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