56 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.81 



SPECIES OF UNCERTAIN POSITION 

 DISTOMA ANDERSONI Cobbold, 1876 



Plate 12, Figuke 53 



Description. — " Body oblong, smooth externally, uniform in thick- 

 ness, six times as long as broad; head with lateral projections; ven- 

 tral sucker large and prominent ; neck much constricted ; tail evenly 

 rounded off, blunt. Length 1/8", breadth about 1/50". The testes 

 are globular and placed high up in the middle line of the body. 

 The small lobed gland immediately above them is probably the ovary. 

 The clear narrow line extending from the border of the lower testis 

 to the end of the tail seems to mark the limit of the vitellogene organs 

 on either side below. These glands in all likelihood extend upwards 

 to the neck, being apparently very largely developed in this species." 



Host. — Platanista gangetica. 



Location. — Small intestine. 



Distribution. — Asia (India) . 



Remarks. — The foregoing description, copied from Cobbold 

 (1876), was based upon a drawing sent to him by Dr. John Anderson, 

 superintendent of the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Odhner (1905) 

 believed that this worm was probably related to Brachycladium 

 {== C ampula) , as he stated: " Endlich finde ich sehr wahrscheinlich, 

 dass das sehr ungeniigend bekannte Dist. andersoni Cobb, aus Pla- 

 tanista gangetica sich bei genauerer Untersuchung als eine Brachy- 

 cladium-K.vt entpuppen wird." It is probably unwise to venture an 

 opinion as to the systematic position of this species, but certain fea- 

 tures as shown in the drawing, assuming that the sketch was not 

 made from a mutilated specimen, suggest that this form might be an 

 echinostome. The anterior end is not unlike the cephalic collar of 

 the echinostomes ; the small oral sucker and the large acetabulum, as 

 well as the relative size and position of the ovary and testes, suggest 

 such affinities. On the other hand, what is figured as the oral sucker 

 may be only the oral aperture, and the structure which resembles a 

 cephalic collar may in reality be the oral sucker which has been torn 

 loose from the body. 



DISTOMUM PHILOCHOLUM Creplin, 1845 



Description. — None. 



Host. — DelpJiinus delphis. 



Location. — Liver. 



Distribution . — Europe. 



Remarks. — Creplin (1845) gives only the name and habitat of 

 this species, and for this reason it must be regarded as a nornen 

 nudum. 



