CESTODA 



By ASA C. Chandler, Rice Institute 



The first work on cestodes of Gulf fishes was 

 done by Linton on material collected by him at 

 the Biological Laboratory of the Carnegie In- 

 stitution at Dry Tortugas, Florida, in the sum- 

 mers of 1906-1908. They are discussed in Linton 

 (1908b, 1909). No further work was done until 

 Chandler (1935a, 1935b) reported some ob- 

 servations on helminths of fish in Galveston Bay, 

 Texas. Perez Vigueras (1936), in a report of 

 helminths in Cuba, reported three unidentified 

 larvae of Trypanorhyncha from teleosts off the 

 province of Havana. Potter (1937) described one 

 additional new species of cestode from Dry 

 Tortugas, and Shuler (1938) reported on some 

 cestodes collected from this same locality by 

 Manter in 1930-1932, adding one more valid 

 new species. Chandler (1942) reported on some 

 cestodes from sharks taken near Englewood, 

 Florida, adding two new species. Seamster 

 (1950, personal communication) reported a few 

 cestode infections from fishes taken in or near 

 Corpus Christi Bay, Texas. Other than these 

 few and incomplete investigations the cestodes 

 of fishes in the Gulf of Mexico have not been 

 studied. Further studies will undoubtedly yield 

 many new species and bring to light interesting 

 geographical relations with the fauna of the 

 Caribbean Sea, the North Atlantic, and the 

 Pacific Coast of Mexico. No cestodes have yet 

 been reported from marine reptiles or mammals in 

 the Gulf. 



The cestode fauna so far known consists almost 

 entirely of Tetraphyllidea and Trypanorhyncha 

 which, as adults, parasitize practically^ all elasmo- 

 branchs in the Gulf and, as larvae, are found very 

 commonly in the flesh or viscera of teleosts, 

 often in such food fishes as members of the 

 families Sciaenidae, Serranidae, and Lutjanidae. 

 Although incapable of development in man they 

 cause considerable economic loss because of 

 popular antipathy to "wormy" fish. On the 

 Texas coast the drum, Pogonias cromis, and to a 



lesser extent other sciaenid fishes, very fre- 

 quently harbor th(> plerocerci of Poecilancistrium 

 robustum or related species which are known to 

 fishermen as "spaghetti worms'^ because of their 

 great length. The adults of these worms are 

 probably parasitic in a shark or ray as are other 

 Trypanorhyncha. Some city health departments 

 have considered banning drum from the markets 

 because of their very frequent infestation, but the 

 writer has counseled against this since these fish 

 are an important cheap source of protein food. 



TETRAPHYLLIDEA 



Family DISCULICIPITIDAE 



Disculiceps pUeatus (Linton, 1890) Joyeux and Baer, 1935. 

 Host: Carcharinus leucas, cub shark. 



Family CEPHALOBOTHRIIDAE 



Hexacanalis (?) marsupium (Linton, 1916) DoUfu.s, 1948. 

 Host: Stoasodon narinari, spotted sting ray; Dry Tor- 

 tugas (Linton). 



Family PHYLLOBOTHRIIDAE 



PhyUohrolhrium foliatum Linton, 1890. 



Host: Dasyatus sabina, southern sting ray; Dry Tor- 

 tugas (Linton). 

 Phyllohothrium mustelis (van Beneden, 1850) (=Orygma- 

 tobothrium anguslum Linton, 1890.) 

 Host: Carcharinus leucas, cub shark; Dry Tortugas 

 (Linton). 

 Phyllobothrinm lacttica van Beneden, 1850. 



Host: Negaprion brcviroslris, yellow shark; Dry Tor- 

 tugas (Shuler). 

 Phyllobothrinm dasyhati Yamaguti, 19154. 



Host: Negaprion brcviroslris, yellow shark; Dry Tor- 

 tugas (Shuler). 

 Phyllobothrium tumidum Linton, 1922. 



Host: Scoliodon terrae-novae, sharp-nosed shark; Dry 

 Tortugas (Shuler). 

 Phyllobothrium cenlruriun Southwell, 1925 i=Anthocepha- 

 lum gracile Linton, 1890). 

 Host: Dasyatis sabina, southern sting ray; Dry Tor- 

 tugas (Linton). 

 Phyllobothrium sp. 



Host: Dasyatis sabina, southern sting ray; Corpus 

 Christi Bay (Seamster). 



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