THE HELMINTHS PARASITIC IN THE AMPHIBIA AND 

 REPTILIA OF HOUSTON, TEXAS, AND VICINITY 



By Paul D. Harwood 

 Rice Institute, Houston, Tex. 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 1 



Trcmatoda 2 



Cestoda 31 



Ncmatoda 42 



Page 



Acanthocephala 64 



Parasites listed systematically by hosts. 65 

 Literature cited 6T 



INTRODUCTION ^ 



Our knowledge of the helminths parasitic in the amphibians and 

 reptiles of North America is still very limited. Leidy, Stafford, Cort, 

 Stimkard, and Walton have made the most important contributions to 

 (he scientific study of this group of worms, but many authors have 

 contributed important papers. I was engaged in the collection and 

 study of the parasites of the Reptilia and Amphibia of tlie Houston, 

 Tex., region, for 2i/2 years. More than 500 host animals represent- 

 ing 50 species have been examined. All adult parasitic worms, other 

 than leeches, were collected and preserved for study. Usually the en- 

 cysted forms were neglected, but one interesting cysticercoid is herein 

 described. 



There is no universal agreement among helminthologists as to the 

 exact status of many of the major groups that are used in systematic 

 classification. In this paper the classification of the trematodes is 

 based on Faust's Human Helminthology, that of the cestodes on 

 Southwell's Fauna of British India : Cestodes, and that of the nema- 

 todes on Baylis and Daubney's A Synopsis of the Families and Gen- 

 era of Nematoda. The host names employed are those used in Stejne- 

 ger and Barbour's A Check List of North American Amphibians and 

 Reptiles, second edition. 



This work has been done under the direction and criticism of Dr. 

 A. C. Chandler, of the Rice Institute, Houston, Tex., for whose in- 

 terest and suggestions I wish to express my sincere appreciation. I 

 am further indebted to him for the use of his private library of 

 reprints. Many other acknowledgments are made in various places 

 throughout the paper. 



No. 2940.— Proceedings U. S. National Museum. Vol. 81, Art. 17. 



126821—32 1 1 



