209] PROTEOCEPHALIDAE—LA RUE 209 



OPHIOTAENIA FILAROIDES La Rue 



[Figs. 26-28, 43-46, 103-105] 



1909 : Proteocephalus filaroides La Rue 1909 :17-49 



1911 : Ophiotaenia filaroides La Rue 1911 :481 



Specific Diagnosis : Characters of genus. Worms attenuate, small, 

 thin, flat. Length 80-110 mm., maximum breadth about 0.80-0.90 mm. 

 Color white, in life somewhat translucent. Strobilation not evident. 

 Intersegmental furrows shallow. Surface smooth. Scolex globose, 

 flattened dorsoventrally, with conical apex, without apical depression 

 or fifth sucker. No rostellum. No spines. Head not marked by fur- 

 rows. Breadth of head 0.366-0.46 mm. Suckers deep, muscular, oval in 

 outline, maximum dimension 0.165-0.184 mm. Neck narrow, 3-4 mm. 

 long. First proglottids 0.30-0.36 mm. broad by 0.10-0.17 mm. long. 

 Mature proglottids quadrate or longer than broad. Ripe proglottids 

 from 1.6 mm. long by 0.8 mm. broad to 4.0 mm. long by 0.75 mm. broad. 

 End-proglottid present. Musculature weak. Parenchyma coarse, filled 

 with large fat globules. 



Genital organs typical of genus. No genital papilla. Genital pore 

 marginal, irregularly alternating, situated at end of first fifth of pro- 

 glottid. Testes 0.05-0.06 mm. in diameter, 70-114 in number, arranged 

 in two lateral fields. Ductus ejaculatorius with a few coils in cirrus- 

 pouch. Cirrus weakly muscled, slender, cylindrical, 0.2-0.3 mm. long 

 when protruded. Cirrus-pouch about 0.22 mm. long by 0.11 mm. broad. 

 Vagina always anterior to cirrus-pouch, not crossing latter. Weak 

 sphincter vaginae and small receptaculum seminis present. Ovarian 

 lobes thin, alate, composed of anastomosing tubules. Organs of inter- 

 ovarial space typical of genus. Vitellaria with large follicles. Uterus, 

 when developed, with 25-35 lateral pouches on either side. Uterine 

 pores 8-12. Eggs with three membranes. Outer one 0.035-0.100 mm., 

 second, 0.030 mm., embryo 0.021 mm. in diameter. 



Habitat: Intestine and rectum of Ambly stoma tigrinum (Green) 

 [type host], Nebraska (type locality) and Kansas. 



Type: Unnumbered alcoholics in collection of La Rue and slides 

 of same. Autotype in collection of Dr. H. B. Ward. 



This species was first described by La Rue (1909:17-49) as Proteo- 

 cephalus filaroides. So far as the writer has been able to find out no 

 one else has worked on the species. La Rue (1911:481) included this 

 species in a list of species of Ophiotaenia. 



