401] PSEUDOPHYLLIDEA FROM FISHES— COOPER 113 



Strengthens this fact, as does Diesing's (1850:594) remark that D. angustatum 

 "specie! praecedentis forsan mera varietas. " Dujardin (1845:614) considered 

 the species to be synonymous with Leuckart's (1819:41) B. affinis which the 

 latter pointed out was "ahnlich dem B. pimctatus," only smaller and more 

 elongated. An interesting point that Leuckart brought out, which further 

 strengthens the resemblances to B. scorpii, was that ''Em grosseres Glied 

 wechselt gewohnlich mit einem kleineren ab. " "Ovaries" were described as 

 being in one row and nearer the anterior than the posterior edge of the proglot- 

 tis, which with the general characters of the segments and scolex point to B. 

 affinis being merely a variety of B. scorpii. Later Diesing (1863:240) added 

 to the diagnosis: "Aperturae genitalium laterales" — that is surficial, and not 

 lateral in the sense of being marginal, as it is now used. Parona (1887 :320) 

 gave a description of the external features which differed Httle from those al- 

 ready pubHshed and even with the four figures accompanying it does not permit 

 one to separate the species from B. scorpii. Matz (1892 :121) merely listed the 

 species, while Blanchard (1894:701) included it in his genus Bothriocephalus. 

 Ariola (1896:263, 272, 280) made a few brief statements regarding the form, in 

 which, besides giving the length and breadth of the strobila as 8,5 to 9cm. and 

 0.9mm. respectively and the dimensions of the eggs as 70 by 51^, he said that 

 ' 'Osservo che esso tan to per le dimensioni del corpo, quanto per i caratteri dello 

 scoHce nulla ha di comune col B. punctatiis, che ha una lunghezza totale di circa 

 50cm., e quindi constituisce una specie propria, quale appunto I'hanno ritenuta il 

 Rudolphi, il Parona, ed altri elmintologi. " He placed the species (p. 280) 

 among those of the genus Bothrlocephalus Rud. with dorsoventral bothria, in 

 his classification of the family " BothriocephaUdae s. str. " Stossich (1898 :116) 

 reported the species from Scor poena parens at Trieste, but added nothing of 

 diagnostic value, while Ariola (1900:419) continued to hold his former opinions 

 concerning the form: "E con cio cade il dubbio di Diesing e di Carus, che 

 cioe il B. angnstatus possa riguardarsi come una varieta del Botriocephalo 

 puntato, il quale ultimo ne e assai lontano, oltre che per notevoH differenze di 

 tutto il corpo, per i botridii dorsoventrah. " Linton's report of the species has 

 been referred to; and finally Shipley recognized the species in "Numerous frag- 

 ments taken from the intestine of the salmon, Salmo salar. " 



Thus it is evident that in the literature there are not sufi&cient data to enable 

 one to state whether this form is a separate species or not, but much that 

 points to its being only a variety of the quite variable B. scorpii. Nor was the 

 writer lead to any conclusions by an examination of the material which Linton 

 (1901:474) described from Merluccius bilinearis, contained in No. 6646, U. S. 

 N. M. It was found to be very fragmentary and immature, but on the whole 

 to suggest B. scorpii in miniature. A toto preparation of one of the widest 

 pieces showed no traces of the reproductive rudiments, but six chief excretory 

 vessels, arranged quite like those in B. scorpii, the median pair being the 

 largest, and all of them quite straight as from pronounced elongation of the 

 whole stretch of segments. On the other hand, the long narrow condition of the 

 scolex seemed to be persistent in the material; but, since no strobilas of B. 



