ACANTHOCEPHALA 



By ASA C. Chandler, Rice Institute 



In contrast to the trematodes and cestodes, very 

 few species of Acanthocephala have been reported 

 from Gulf animals. To some extent, certainly, 

 this is due to the scantiness of investigations, par- 

 ticularly on parasites of fishes of bays and estu- 

 aries, but enough work has been done to make it 

 evident that the Acanthocephala are not as abun- 

 dant in the Gulf as they are in more northern 

 waters, e. g., Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Linton 

 (1907) called attention to this relative scarcity of 

 Acanthocephala, both of species and of individuals, 

 in southern seas,, for he observed it not only at 

 Dry Tortugas in the Gulf but also at Beaufort, 

 North Carolina, and at Bermuda. In a later col- 

 lection at Dry Tortugas (Linton 1909) he re- 

 marked that Acanthocephala were found in only 

 7 of the 32 species of fish examined, and in every 

 case few or even only 1 was found, all belonging 

 to a single species which he called Echinorhynchus 

 pristis, now known as Nipporhynchus ornatus. In 

 a personal communication Seamster (1950) re- 

 ported onl}^ 1 specimen of 30 fish examined in 

 Corpus Christi Bay, Texas, representing 16 species, 

 to harbor an acanthocephalan. Chandler (1935a), 

 on the other hand, in an examination of 23 species 

 of teleost fish from Galveston Bay represented by 

 from 1 to over 100 specimens of each found a 

 predominance of Acanthocephala as common adult 

 parasites. However, no elasmobranchs were ex- 

 amined so the varied tetraphyllidean and trypa- 

 norhynchan cestodes found practically universally 

 in the spiral valves of these hosts did not come 

 into the picture. The three adult species of 

 Acanthocephala found were all fairly common in 

 their respective hosts and were the only adult 

 parasites that one could depend on finding in 

 repeated examinations of particular hosts. Acan- 

 thocephala will probably be found to be fairly 

 common in fishes frequenting the shores and shal- 



low bays throughout the Gulf where small Crus- 

 tacea, which probably serve as intermediate hosts, 

 abound; but they will probably not be found 

 abundantly in oceanic or reef-dwelling fishes. 



EOACANTHOCEPHALA 

 Family NEOECHINORHYNCHIDAE 



Atactorhynchus verecundus Chandler, 19.35a 



Host: Cyprinodon variegatus; Galveston Bay (Chandler) 



PALAEACANTHOCEPHALA 



Family GORGORHYNCHIDAE 



Gorgorhynchus gibber Chandler, 1934 



Host: GaleicMhys felis, gaff-topsail catfish; Galveston 

 Bay (Chandler) 

 Nipposlroiigylus ornatus (Van Cleave, 1918) Van Cleave 

 and Lincicome, 1940 { = Rhadinorhynchus pristis 

 (Rud., 1802) of Linton, 1891-1909) 

 Hosts: Auxis thazard (Euthynnus alletteralus'!), frigate 

 mackerel, Haemulon sciurus, yellow grunt, Haemulon 

 plumieri, white grunt, Luijanus griseus, gray snapper, 

 and four other species, unnamed; Dry Tortugas 

 (Linton) 

 Filisoma fidum Van Cleave and Manter, 1947 



Host: Kyphosus seclalrii, rudder fish; Dry Tortugas 

 (Van Cleave and Manter) 



Family RHADINORHYNCHIDAE 



Illiosentis furcatus Van Cleave and Lincicome, 1939 



Host: Menticirrhiis americanus, southern kingfish; 

 Grand Isle, La. (Van Cleave and Lincicome), Corpus 

 Christi Bay, Tex. (Seamster) 

 Telosenlis ienuicornis (Linton, 1891) Van Cleave, 1947 

 Hosts: Micropogon undulatus, croaker, Leiostomus 

 xanthurus, spot; Galveston Bay (Chandler) 



Family CENTRORHYNCHIDAE 



Arhythmorhynchus duocinclus Chandler, 1935a 



Host: Im., Paralichthys lethostigmus, southern flounder; 

 Galveston Bay (Chandler) 



Note.— Bibliography follows chapter on Nematoda, p. 368. 



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