AST. 19 NEMATODES OF GENUS HASTOSPICULUM OHITWOOD 7 



of muscles, and is of the opinion that at least in H. macrophallos 

 the so-called epaulettelike structure is not superficial but rather 

 is a manifestation of subcuticular bodies. Only four submedian 

 papillae are described. Concerning the presence of four additional 

 submedian papillae Baylis states : " There is a faint indication of a 

 structure of some kind, suggesting a papilla, near each corner of 

 the ' epaulettes,' but this does not appear to be superficial, and it 

 seems possible that it may be the point of attachment of a muscle or 

 some other subcuticular structure." Lateral organs, or amphids, are 

 situated in a position similar to that occupied by the same structures 

 in other members of the genus. 



Male^ 80 mm. long, according to Parona (1889) ; maximum diam- 

 eter 0.041 (probably meant to be 0.41 mm.). Spicules unequal, the 

 left being 2 mm. long and 0.042 mm. wide, and the right 0.051 mm. 

 long, according to Parona, or 0.04 mm., according to Baylis. Baylis 

 suggests that the decimal point is misplaced in Parona's figure for 

 the length of the right spicule. Parona figures four pairs of large 

 pedunculated papillae, while Baylis figures only three, two preanal 

 and one postanal. There are also three pairs of smaller, subventral, 

 preanal papillae and two pairs of conical, postanal papillae. The 

 figure of the tail of the male given by Parona shows the left spicule 

 quite heavy, as would be expected from his measurement; Baylis's 

 figure is not quite so clear in this respect. 



Female^ 250 mm. long by 1.4 mm. wide, according to Baylis and 

 Daubney (1922), who found females that they described as Filaria 

 niacro'phallos. The esophagus consists of a short, narrow, muscular 

 portion 600/x long, and a long, glandular portion 30 mm. long; the 

 nerve ring surrounds the esophagus caudad of the middle of the 

 anterior portion. Vulva 1.15 mm. from the anterior end. Tail 

 bluntly rounded, bearing a pair of papillae at its extremity; anus 

 terminal. Eggs embryonated, barrel-shaped, 50/a long by 30/i wide, 

 with thick shells possessing annular thickenings. Parona (1889) 

 had males only and hence gave no description of the female in 

 proposing this species. 



Hosts. — Varanvs {Hydrosaurus) sdlvator^ V. nebulosus, and V. 

 niloticus. 



Location. — Among the abdominal muscles. 



Distribution. — Burma, India. 



DISCUSSION 



On the basis of characters of the ova, one would regard Hdsto- 

 spiculum splnifferuvi as at least very closely related to H. macrophal- 

 los. The relative thickness of the left spicule also presents a simi- 



