Placobdella phalera

External morphology

Large unpigmented area surrounding eyes followed posteriorly by thin bands of brownish red pigment, with dark medial line interrupted multiple times by unpigmented patches, large unpigmented anal area, stripeing on posterior sucker

Habitat & range

Habitat

Freshwater

Region

North America

Recorded from

USA

Taxonomic notes

Moser et al. 2012 synonymized this species with P. ornata based on genetic analysis of a specimen which was almost assuredly not P. phalera. For that reason some literature still considers this a synonym, but most agree it is a distinct species. It is currently unclear whether P. phalera needs to be synonymized with P. translucens