12 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.81 



LECITHODESMUS GOLIATH (van Beneden, 1858) Odhner, 1905 



Plate 3, Figures 15-16 



Synonym. — Distomuiii goliath van Beneden, 1858, pp. 95-97. 



Description. — Lecithodesmus : Body ribbonlike, 60 to 80 mm long 

 by 8 mm wide and 1.6 to 1.8 mm thick (90 mm long by 9 mm 

 wide, according to Lonnberg, 1891), anterior end bluntly rounded 

 and posterior end slightly attenuated. Spines present on anterior 

 part of body. [Odhner (1905) believes that the absence of spines 

 on the posterior part is clue to the effects of maceration for several 

 days of habitual delay before specimens can be collected after the 

 host has been killed.] Oral sucker 2.3 mm in diameter by 2 mm 

 deep, subterminal in position ; acetabulum 1.8 mm in diameter by 1.6 

 mm deep, according to Odhner (1.3 mm in diameter, according to 

 Braun, 1902b), situated a little more than one-third of the body 

 length from the anterior end (28 mm from oral sucker, according 

 to Lonnberg). Prepharynx short; pharynx 1.5 mm long by 950/a 

 wide (TOO/A wide, according to Braun); esophagus very short; in- 

 testinal ceca extend to posterior end of body and are provided with 

 median and lateral dendritic diverticula. The anteriorly directed 

 cecal appendages extend to the level of the middle of the pharynx, 

 each being provided with four lateral diverticula. Excretory vesicle 

 tubular and extending to level of ovary. Genital pore preacetabu- 

 lar; cirrus pouch club shaped, containing a large seminal vesicle 

 and an unarmed cirrus 3 mm to 4 mm long. Testes branched, tan- 

 dem in position, and situated in the posterior half of the body. 

 Ovary star shaped, situated immediately cephalad of the anterior 

 testis, slightly to right of median line. Laurer's canal present; 

 seminal receptacle (?). The vitellaria consist of quadrangular 

 groups of follicles extending both dorsally and ventrally from the 

 level of the pharynx to the posterior end of body. According to 

 Braun, the vitelline ducts consist of a long, slender, anterior duct, 

 which bifurcates to form two lateral ducts that extend to a short 

 distance caudad of ovary where they join the transverse ducts, and 

 of a shorter, unpaired, posterior duct which bifurcates to form an- 

 terior lateral ducts which are sometimes connected by transverse 

 anastomoses; the transverse ducts are formed by the union of the 

 anterior and posterior lateral ducts. Uterus convoluted and termi- 

 nating in a well-developed vagina, which opens into the genital 

 sinus near the male genital aperture. Eggs 120/x long by 75/x wide, 

 triangular in cross section. 



Hosts. — Balaenoptera acutorostrata {=B. rostrata)., B. horealis, 

 and Balaena mysticetus. 



Location. — Liver. 



Distribution. — Europe. 



