348 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



The miracidium of Lophotaspis vallei, an as- 

 pidogastrid of the loggerhead turtle was studied 

 by Manter (1932). Wharton (1939) discovered 

 that a juvenile stage of this trematode occurred in 

 the flag conch, Fasciolaria gigas, collected in 

 Gulf County, Fla. As Wharton indicated, mira- 

 cidia doubtless penetrate the conch and develop 

 without reproduction to the infective stage. 

 Turtles would thus become infected by eating 

 infected conchs. 



SUMMARY 



Over 200 species of Trematoda reported from 

 fishes of the Gulf of Me.xico include 10 species 

 of Monogenea, 2 species of Aspidogastrea, and 

 196 species of Digenea. Of the Digenea, 18 species 

 are gasterostomcs, 178 species are prosostomes. 

 Most of these trematodes have been studied 

 only from the eastern portion of the Gulf at 

 Tortugas, Fla. 



Trematodes of other vertebrates of the Gulf 

 have been studied very little. Fifteen species 

 have been reported from Caretta caretta, the logger- 

 head turtle, at Tortugas. Two species are re- 

 ported in this paper from Chelonia mydas, the 

 green turtle. Three species of Trematoda are 

 known in the Gulf. At least five other species 

 have been reported from oceanic birds in the 

 Caribbean, birds which are also common in the 

 Gulf. 



Larval stages of trematodes in mollusks of the 

 Gulf include 22 species of cercariae at Tortugas. 

 Cercariae of Parorchis acanthus have been re- 

 ported from Thais floridana from the Louisiana 

 coast. Here also oysters are commonly infected 

 with gasterostome larvae. 



Only three life cycles are known. Hamacrea- 

 dium mutabile and H. gulella, adults of which occur 

 in Lutjanidae (snappers), develop in a snail, 

 Astrea americana, and then utilize Thalassoma 

 bifasciatus, bluehead, or Halichoeres bivittatus, 

 slippery dick, as second intermediate host. Ju- 

 venile stages of Lophotaspis vallei from the logger- 

 head turtle infect the flag conch, Fasciolaria gigas. 



A discussion of geographical distribution of 

 trematodes of fishes points out (1) that the trema- 

 todes of fishes from 100 fathoms or deeper show 

 practically no affinity to trematodes of surface 

 waters of the Gulf but do show considerable 

 affinity to species from fishes of distant but cold 

 waters, (2) the trematode fauna of surface waters 



(less than 50 fathoms) shows a marked similarity 

 to such faunas at Bermuda and in the tropical 

 American Pacific, a similarity approximately 

 twice as great as is shown to Beaufort, N. C, or 

 Woods Hole, Mass. Further study of this phe- 

 nomenon, at both the generic and specific level, 

 is suggested. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Cable, R. M., and McLean, Richard A. 



1943. The occurrence of Cercaria clausii Monticelli, a 

 marine rattenkonig larval trematode, on the west 

 coast of Florida. Notulae Naturae, Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Philadelphia, No. 129, pp. 1-7. 



Chandler, A. C. 



1935. Parasites of fishes in Galveston Bay. Proc. U. S. 

 Nat. Mus. 83: 12.3-157, 7 pis. 



1941. Two new trematodes from the bonito, Sarda 

 sarda, in the Gulf of Mexico. Jour. Parasit. 27(2): 

 183-184. 



1951. Trematodes from the man-o-war bird, Fregala 

 magnificens rothschildi, on the Texas coast, with the 

 description of a new species, Schwarlzilrema seamsteri. 

 Tex. Jour. Sci. 3: 18(>-189. 

 Faust, Ernest Carroll, and Tang, Chung-Chang. 



1936. Notes on new aspidogastrid species, with a con- 

 sideration of the phylogeny of the group. Parasit. 

 28: 487-501. 



Fujii, Harold. 



1944. Three monogenetic trematodes from marine 

 fishes. Jour. Parasit. 30(3): 153-158, 2 pis. 



Hanson, Mary Louise. 



1950. Some digenetic trematodes of marine fishes of 

 Bermuda. Proc. Helminth. See. Washington 17: 

 74-89. 

 Hughes, R. Chester; Higginbotham, Joe W.; and 

 Clary, Jasper W. 

 1941. The trematodes of reptiles. Part II. Host cat- 

 alog. Proc. Okla. Acad. Sci. 21: 35-43. 

 Linton, Edwin. 



1910. Helminth fauna of the Dry Tortugas. II. Tre- 

 matodes. Carnegie Inst. Washington Pub. No. 133, 

 Pap. Tortugas Lab. 4: 11-98, 28 pis. 

 1928. Notes on trematode parasites of birds. Proc. 

 U. S. Nat. Mus. 73 (1): 1-36, 11 pis. 

 LuHMAN, Marion 



1935. Two new trematodes from the loggerhead turtle 

 {Caretta caretta). Jour. Parasit. 21 (4): 274-276. 

 MacCallum, G. a. 



1917. Some new forms of parasitic worms. Zoopatho- 

 logica 1 (2) : 43-75. 

 Manter, H. W. 



1930. Studies on the trematodes of Tortugas fishes. 

 Carnegie Inst. Year Book 29: 338-340. 



1931. Further studies on trematodes of Tortugas fishes. 

 Carnagie Inst. Year Book 30: 386-387. 



1932. Continued studies on trematodes of Tortugas. 

 Carnegie Inst. Year Book 31: 287-288. 



