Jawed leeches, termed "Gnathobdellae" or "Gnathobdellida", are exclusively found among the Hirudiniformes, but the order contains a number of jawless
families as well. The jawed, toothed forms make up the
aquatic Hirudidae and the
terrestrial Haemadipsidae and
Xerobdellidae (sometimes included in the preceding but worthy of recognition as an independent family). These might actually form a
clade, but it seems that the Hirudidae might rather be close relatives of the
carnivorous Haemopidae instead. Many of the most well-known leeches belong to this family, most notably the medical leeches, such as the European
species, already mentioned, which is prominent among these. Other medical Hirudiniformes of lesser importance are for example other species of the
genus Hirudo, the North American medical leech (
Macrobdella decora), and the Asian medical leech (
Hirudinaria manillensis). Among the better-known bloodsucking land leeches are species belonging to the Asian genus
Haemadipsa: they include the Indian leech (
H. sylvestris) and the
yamabiru or Japanese Mountain Leech (
H. zeylanica). ==References & footnotes==