{{Short description|Species of leech}}
{{Speciesbox | genus = Linta | parent_authority = Westergren & Siddall, 2004 | species = be | authority = Westergren & Siddall, 2004 }}
'''''Linta be''''' is a species of aquatic leech endemic to Madagascar.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bolotov |first1=Ivan N. |last2=Eliseeva |first2=Tatyana A. |last3=Tsiplenkina |first3=Iya G. |last4=Gofarov |first4=Mikhail Y. |last5=Kondakov |first5=Alexander V. |year=2023 |title=Long forgotten record of a freshwater leech on Madagascar indicates a host-associated dispersal event from continental Africa |journal=Ecologica Montenegrina |volume=61 |pages=56–67 |doi=10.37828/em.2023.61.7 |doi-access=free}}</ref> It is the only species in the monotypic genus '''''Linta''''', described in 2004 by Stephanie Westergren and Mark Siddall.<ref name=WoRMS>{{cite WoRMS |id=1511644 |title=''Linta'' Westergren & Siddall, 2004 |access-date=8 March 2026}}</ref><ref name=WS2004>{{Cite journal |last=Westergren |first=Stephanie |last2=Siddall |first2=Mark E. |author2-link=Mark Siddall |year=2004 |title=Two New Species of Salifid Leeches (Arhynchobdellida: Erpobdelliformes: Salifidae) from South Africa and Madagascar |journal=American Museum Novitates |volume=3456 |pages=1-6 |doi=10.1206/0003-0082(2004)456<0001:TNSOSL>2.0.CO;2 |doi-access=free |issn=0003-0082 |oclc=47720325}}</ref> It is placed within the family Salifidae.<ref name=WoRMS/><ref name=WS2004/> The generic epithet ''Linta'' is derived from the Malagasy word {{lang|mlg|linta}}, meaning aquatic leech. The specific epithet ''be'' is derived from the Malagasy language word {{lang|mlg|be}}, meaning "great" or "very much", and was chosen "in light of this species being very much a leech and being found in large numbers notwithstanding that it had gone undiscovered for so long".<ref name=WS2004/>
''Linta be'' has pharyngeal stylets, which are characteristic of the family Salifidae, within the suborder Erpobdelliformes; however, it has 5 pairs of eyespots, similar to leeches of the suborder Hirudiniformes. Possession of characters of both suborders suggests that ''Linta be'' may be "a previously missing morphological link" connecting the lineages of the order Arhynchobdellida.<ref name=WS2004/>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{taxonbar|from1=Q21447138|from2=Q21351427}}
Category:Endemic fauna of Madagascar Category:Animals described in 2004 Category:Arhynchobdellida Category:Freshwater animals of Africa
{{Annelid-stub}} {{Madagascar-stub}}