.NO. 228G. THE SFAV COFEPOD FAiflLY SPHYlillDAE— WILSON. 



569 



considerable emphasis upon size, a table of the comparative sizes of 

 the sc^cn species is here given. The figures are millimeters. 



The length of the hammer is transverse to the body axis. 



The first two species in the table are conceded to be distinct, and 

 it will be noted that the variations given for the second species, 

 laevigaturti, are amply sufficient in range to cover the five following 

 species, but it will be interesting to note these species in detail. 



SPHYRION AUSTRALICUS Thor. 



This species has a more robust structure than laevigatum^ the ^gg 

 strings are a little longer, and the hammer has long digitiform 

 processes v.hich Thor regarded as transformed legs. The neck is 

 strongh' curved and twisted until the hammer is at right angles to 

 the trunk. The posterior processes are the same size and shape as in 

 laevigatvm but are perhaps a little less branched. This parasite was 

 reported to ha^e been taken from "la grande morue rouge d'Aus- 

 tralie" although there is no cod known from Australia that is large 

 and red. 



Obviously there is not enough in this description to render the 

 species valid and it must be considered a synonym of laevigatum. 



SPHYRION DELAGEI Quidor. 



. The hammer is longer and naiTower than in au^fraUcus, and the 

 protuberances which it carries are smaller. The neck and trunk 

 arc bent to the left and the neck shows a direct torsion of 90°. The 

 processes of the hammer are more or less regular and probably rep- 

 resent modified appendages. The trunk has the form of an ellipse, 

 much wider than long: the abdomen is reduced and carries on its 

 ventral surface two bunches of chitin appendages, whose branching 

 is analogous to that in ausfraJicvs, but whose tips are spherical in- 

 stead of being flattened. The species is based on a single specimen 

 taken from behind the dorsal fin of a cod in the Sandwich Islands. 

 Here again there is nothing to constitute a specific difference and the 

 species must be regarded as a synonym of laevigatum. 



