The phylogenetic relationships of Glossiphoniidae, a leech family characterised by its high degree of parental care, were investigated with the combined use of morphological data and three molecular datasets. There was strong support for monophyly of most accepted genera in the group, many of which are consistent with eyespot morphology. The genera Desserobdella Barta & Sawyer, 1990 and Oligobdella Moore, 1918 are suppressed as junior synonyms of Placobdella Blanchard, 1893 and thus recognising each of Placobdella picta (Verrill, 1872) Moore, 1906, Placobdella phalera (Graf, 1899) Moore, 1906, and Placobdella biannulata (Moore, 1900), comb. nov. The species Glossiphonia elegans (Verrill, 1872) Castle, 1900 and Helobdella modesta (Verrill, 1872), comb. nov. are resurrected for the North American counterparts to European non-sanguivorous species. Glossphonia baicalensis (Stschegolew, 1922), comb. nov. is removed from the genus Torix Blanchard 1898 and Alboglossiphonia quadrata (Moore, 1949) Sawyer, 1986 is removed from the genus Hemiclepsis Vejdovsky, 1884. The biogeographic implications of the phylogenetic hypothesis are evaluated in the context of what is already known for vertebrate hosts and Tertiary continental arrangements.

Many monophagous animals have coevolutionary relationships with bacteria that provide unavailable nutrients to the host. Frequently, these microbial partners are vertically inherited and reside in specialized structures or tissues. Here we report three new lineages of bacterial symbionts of blood-feeding leeches, one from the giant Amazonian leech, Haementeria ghilianii, and two others from Placobdelloides species. These hosts each possess a different mycetome or esophageal organ morphology where the bacterial cells are located. DNA sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA genes and fluorescent in situ hybridization placed these symbionts in two separate clades in the class Gammaproteobacteria. We also conducted a broad phylogenetic analysis of the herein-reported DNA sequences as well as others from bacterial symbionts reported elsewhere in the literature, including alphaproteobacterial symbionts from the leech genus Placobdella as well as Aeromonas veronii from the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, and a Rickettsia sp. detected in Hemiclepsis marginata. Combined, these results indicate that blood-feeding leeches have forged bacterial partnerships at least five times during their evolutionary history.

New Caledonia is a tropical hotspot of biodiversity with high rates of regional and local endemism. Despite offering an ideal setting to study the evolution of endemism, New Caledonia has received little attention compared with the other nearby hotspots, particularly New Zealand. Most studies of the Neocaledonian endemism have been carried out at the regional level, comparing the various groups and species present in New Caledonia but absent in neighboring territories. In addition, remarkably high short-range endemism has been documented among plants, lizard and invertebrates, although these have usually been done, lacking a phylogenetic perspective. Most studies of Neocaledonian endemism have referred to the geological Gondwanan antiquity of the island and its metalliferous soils derived from ultramafic rocks. Very old clades are thought to have been maintained in refugia and diversified on the metalliferous soils. The present study documents the pattern of diversification and establishment of short-range endemism in a phylogenetic context using the Neocaledonian cockroach genus Lauraesilpha. Mitochondrial and nuclear genes were sequenced to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships among the species of this genus. These relationships, in the light of the species distribution, do not support the hypothesis that species diversified via an adaptive radiation on metalliferous soils and are not consistent with areas of highest rainfall. Species of Lauraesilpha have similar altitudinal ranges and ecological habits and are short-range endemics on mountains. What our analysis did reveal was that closely related species are found on nearby or contiguous mountains, and thus these formations probably played the key role establishing short-range endemism (in association with recent climatic changes).

Morphological examination and a molecular phylogenetic analysis of leeches from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Hawaii show that these specimens are members of a species in the South American Helobdella triserialis species complex. Though it has been seen before, this leech was not recognized as an invasive species. Rather, it was first described as Helobdella striata from Germany later renamed Helobdella europaea and then independently described as Helobdella papillornata from Australia. Because the appropriate name for this leech from its South American endemic locale, Helobdella (triserialis) lineata, is preoccupied by a North American species, we formally recognize H. europaea as the valid taxon name. Although this invader is not a bloodfeeder it may be expected to have an impact on native annelid and mollusk faunas.

We isolated and characterized 12 microsatellite loci for the North American medicinal leech, Macrobdella decora. Macrobdella decora is abundant in central and northern North American freshwater systems. The resulting microsatellite library, the first for any species of leech or any clitellate annelid, demonstrates the efficacy of this type of analysis on unexploited leech populations and should serve as a baseline for comparison with other species, notably the commercially important and threatened European medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis.