A NEW SPECIES OF CESTODE, CREPIDOBOTHRIUM 

 AMPHIUMAE, FR0:M AMPHIUMA TRIDACTYLUM 



By Clarke Courson Zeliff 

 Department of Zoolooii, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 



An examination of the intestinal contents of Ainphiuma tridac- 

 tylum, from Louisiana reveals the presence of some cestodes, which 

 are herein described as a new species. I wish to express appreciation 

 to Dr. B. P. Young for suggestions and to Dr. H. D. Reed for the 

 source of material. 



After investigating numerous sources of literature, I have been 

 unable to find a record of any cestode previously described from this 

 urodele. Several cestodes have been described from amphibians and 

 reptiles, and in LaRue's monograph (1914) they are included in 

 the family Proteocephalidae, genus Ophiotaenia. Woodland (1925) 

 strongly criticizes the characters and system used by LaRue in his 

 part on classification and points out that Ophiotaenia has been shown 

 to be synonymous with Crepidohothrium. Ophidotaenia (Beddard, 

 1913) is also shown to be synonymous with the former genus. Meg- 

 gitt (1927) says that Liihe (1899) has correctly shown that the 

 generic name ProtocepJialus^ which has been applied to forms of 

 this group, is invalid. Woodland would base the classification on 

 the relation of the genital organs to the muscle sheath and also 

 would place a large number of species in the genus Proteocephalus, 

 with Crepidohotlxri.uin as a provisional group. The account given 

 by Ward and Whipple (1918) is now somewhat incomplete. Meg- 

 gitt (1927) gives a tentative system of classification of the group 

 and an excellent summary of the known species. The forms in the 

 genus Ophiotaenia are distributed by him among the genera Crepi- 

 dohothrium and Ichthyotaenia. 



Ophiotaenia has been reported from several urodeles and anurans : 

 O. -fllaroides (LaRue, 1909) from Anibystonia tigrinum; O. long- 

 hergii (Fuhrman, 1895) from Necturus maculosus ; 0. cryptohranchi 

 (LaRue, 1911) from Cryptohranchus allegheniensis, 0. magna (Han- 

 num, 1925) from Ra7ia catesheiana; and O. hylae (Johnson, 1912) 

 from a Hyla from Australia. The characters of the genus Crepi- 

 dohothriv/m given by Meggitt are as follows : 



No. 2926.— Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. 81, Art. 3. 



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