ART. 4 FOUR NEW TEEMATODE WORMS PRICE 5 



Distribution. — United States (Maryland and District of Colum- 

 bia). 



Type specimens. — U.S.N.M. Helm. Coll. No. 29733; paratypes 

 No. 29T54. 



Two lots of specimens of this species were available for study. 

 The first of these (U.S.N.M. No. 27779) was collected June 1, 1927, 

 by Dr. B. Schwartz, of the Zoological Division, from the small 

 intestine of a dog. The second lot of specimens was collected by 

 Dr. G. Dikmans, February 28, 1930, from muskrat viscera sent to the 

 Zoological Division by Dr. J. E. Shillinger, of the Bureau of 

 Biological Survey, the animals having been caught near Cam- 

 bridge, Md. 



The above description is based on specimens from both sources, 

 the two being regarded as identical since the specimens do not show 

 the slightest difference which might suggest the possibility of the 

 two forms being distinct species. 



The genus EcJmiochasnius was proposed by Dietz (1909) to con- 

 tain three species, E chinochasinus coaxatus Dietz, E. euryporus 

 (Looss), and E. heleocephalus (v. Linstow). Since then the follow- 

 ing species have been added: E. liliputanus (Looss), E. afrlcanus 

 (Stiles), and E. hurslcola (Creplin) { = E. cloacinum Braun) by 

 Odhner (1910) ; E. oligacanthus Llihe (Syn. E. euryporum Looss, 

 1899, not E. euryporum Looss, 1896), and E. perfoliatus (v. Ratz) 

 by Dietz (1910) ; E. prosthovitellatus by Nicoll (1914) ; E. tenuicol- 

 Us by Johnston (1917) ; E. amphiholus by Kotlan (1922) ; E. hotauri 

 by Baer (1922) ; E. elongatus by Miki (1923) ; E. corvus by Bhal- 

 erao (1926) ; E. hortense Goto by Asada (1926) ; E. japonicus by 

 Tanabe (1926) ; and E. dietzevi by Isaichikov (1927). 



Liilie (1909) proposed the genus Episthmium with E. africanum 

 (Stiles) as type and added E. hurslcola (Creplin). The principal 

 character which Llihe used for the separation of this genus from 

 E chinochasinus was the extension of the vitellaria beyond the acetab- 

 ulum, these glands extending anteriorly as far as the pharynx and 

 uniting in the median line in Episthmium, while in Echinochasmus 

 they rarely extend as far forward as the anterior margin of the 

 acetabulum. Odhner (1910) refused to recognize Liihe's genus and 

 placed it as a synonym of Echinochasmus. Travassos (1923) recog- 

 nizes the genus Episthmium as valid and adds to it two new species, 

 E. proximum and E. oscari. Bhalerao (1926) concurs in Odhner's 

 action on the grounds that the extension of the vitellaria " is not a 

 very good point of difference " although he later, in the same paper, 

 recognizes that the extension of the vitellaria is a character of 

 generic value. So far as the writer's experience goes, the distribu- 

 tion of the vitellaria appears to be a character of generic value, at 



