299] STUDIES ON GREGARINES— WATSON 89 



line of dehiscence. Spores cylindrical, rounded at ends, double walled, 

 16 by 6.5/x. 



Taken in Provence, France and on the island of Corsica. Hosts: 

 Himantarium gahrielis Linn. (Geophilus g.); Stigmatogaster gracilis 

 Meinert. Habitat : Intestine. 



This parasite is peculiar in having no septum in the adult sporont 

 and thus no protomerite and deutomerite. A rudiment of a protomerite 

 is indicated by a finely granular yellow mass at the proximal end of 

 the body, separated from the rest of the sporont by a clear area. Leger 

 thinks this genus is transitional between the Cephalina and the Acepha- 

 lina. His words are as follows : 



"La Gregarine est done, au point de vus evolutif, une dicystidee vraie, c'est-a- 

 dire n'ayant jamais plus de deus segments; auu apparail de fixation caduc et un 

 segment unique persistants (pseudo-monocystis) representant a la fois le proto- 

 merite et le deutomerite des tricystides. Elle se rapproche en cela des 

 gregarines intestinales des vers marine." 



Leger and Duboscq (1903:311) found a parasite on the island of 

 Corsica which may be the Rhopalonia geophili of Leger. 



"Les Stigmatogaster d'Ajaccio contenaient dans leur intestin de rares spo- 

 radin en forme de toupie, surmountes au pole anterieur d'un plateau circulaire 

 borde d'un bourrelet saillant. Nous les rapportons avec quelque doute an Rhopa- 

 lonia geophili Leger, frequent dans les Stigmatogaster gracilis de Provence et dont 

 les sporadins sont generalement de forme plus allongee." 



RHOPALONIA STELLA Leger 



1899 Rhopalonia stclla Leger 1899:390-5 



Rhopalonia : Sporonts solitary, ovoidal, elongate or spindle shaped. 

 Length about 130/^,, width not given. Body not differentiated into proto- 

 merite and deutomerite. The epimerite is like that of R. geophili Leger 

 and " rapelle assez bien une fleur de syantheres." (Sokolow 1911 



:281). 



Host: Himantarium gahrielis \Ann. Habitat: Intestine. 



The comparison of the epimerite with the flower of one of the Com- 

 positae is a good one, as seen in Figure 51. 



