Acanthobdellidea is an infraclass of primitive leeches; some authors place them in a separate subclass from the Hirudinea.[1] However, the World Register of Marine Species places them within the Hirudinea, as a sister group to Euhirudinea, the true leeches.[2]
Species in the group include Acanthobdella peledina, described by the German zoologist Adolph Eduard Grube in 1851,[3] and A. livanowi, described in 1966.[4]