Kaygorodova Irina A, Dzyuba Elena V
Limnological Institute, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 3 Ulan-Batorskaya Street, 664033 Irkutsk, Russia. Irkutsk State University, 5 Sukhe Bator Street, 664003, Russia.
Zootaxa. 2018 Mar 20;4399(1):123-126. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4399.1.8.
The Acanthobdellida is a group of annelid parasites of fish, which are restricted to subarctic parts of the Northern Hemisphere. These ancient worms arouse the interest of the scientific world due to their mosaic combination of (1) primitive oligochaetous characters (e.g. the presence of setae on the very anterior segments, a lateral nerve system and a metameric coelomic cavity around the intestinal canal) and (2) evolutionarily advanced hirudinean ecological and morphological features (e.g. suckers and parasitic lifestyle), attesting to their intermediate role between Oligochaeta and Euhirudinea (i.e. leeches with setae).
刺蛭目是一类寄生于鱼类的环节动物，仅分布于北半球的亚北极地区。这些古老的蠕虫引起了科学界的兴趣，因为它们具有以下特征的镶嵌组合：（1）原始的寡毛纲特征（例如，最前端体节上有刚毛、侧神经系以及围绕肠道的分节体腔）和（2）进化上较为高级的蛭纲生态和形态特征（例如吸盘和寄生生活方式），这证明它们在寡毛纲和真蛭目（即有刚毛的水蛭）之间起到了中间过渡作用。
