Abstract
Background Adaptive radiation is a phenomenon in which various organs are diversified morphologically or functionally as animals adapt to environmental inputs such as diet and circumstance. Although previous studies have addressed changes caused by various external pressures, the evidence for variation in invertebrates is not well known. Leeches comprise a carnivorous or ectoparasitic group of animals that feed on a wide range of prey. They exhibit a corresponding variety of ingestion behaviors and morphological diversity of mouthparts and gut specializations. However, research on the diversity of ingestion behaviors and the internal structure of feeding organs in leeches is little known. In this study, we use histological analyses, fluorescent labeling and immunohistochemistry to reveal the detailed proboscis structure in the family Glossiphoniidae, while also suggesting the diversification of proboscises.Results We identified the feeding behavior of rhynchobdellid leeches, which have the proboscises. Alboglossiphonia sp. swallows prey whole using its proboscis, whereas other leeches exhibit typical fluid-sucking behavior. Glossiphoniid leeches exhibit fluid ingestion behavior along with clear arrangement of longitudinal muscles, circular muscles surrounding the lumen, and radial muscles, while Alboglossiphonia sp., which displays macrophagous ingestion like salifid Barbronia sp., has a partial circular muscle distribution and spacious lumen that extends to longitudinal muscle layer. To address whether the different feeding behaviors are intrinsic, we investigated the behavioral patterns and muscle arrangements in the earlier developmental stage of glossiphoniid leeches. Juvenile Glossiphoniidae including the Alboglossiphonia sp. exhibit the fluid ingestion behavior and have the proboscis with the compartmentalized muscle layers.Conclusions Genetic, morphological and behavioral differences between juvenile and adult stages of Alboglossiphonia sp. suggest their adult feeding biology has diverged from ancestral glossiphoniid leeches, while retaining developmental vestiges of the typical juvenile feeding morphology currently observed across Glossiphoniidae. This study provides the characteristics of leeches with specific ingestion behaviors, and a comparison of structural differences that serves as the first evidence of the proboscis diversification.