ART. 17 PARASITES OF AMPHIBIA AND EEPTILIA — HAEWOOD 19 



The foregoing description of Haematol oechus uni'plexus is based 

 on a single specimen. No more examples were found, although more 

 than a score examples of the host were examined. Because of the 

 limited material and the great variation Imown to exist among 

 species of Haematoloechius^ this form must be regarded as a species 

 inquirenda until more material becomes available. It is possible that 

 it is an example of Haenmtoloechus floedae that is somewhat stunted 

 and malformed by residence in an unsuitable host, but this seems 

 hardly likely. 



Subfamily Reniferinae Pratt, 1902 



Genus RENIFER Pratt, 1902 



Of the species originally included in this genus only the type 

 species, Renifer eUipticus, remains. Since that time several species 

 have been described in the genus from North American snakes, but 

 many of them have been removed to other genera. At present the 

 genus includes, besides the type species, the following North Ameri- 

 can species : Renifer acetahularis Crow, R. kansensis Crow, R. anoh- 

 trodontis MacCallum, R. septicus MacCallum, R. ophiholi Mac- 

 Callum, and R. nati^ids MacCallum. The unnamed Renifer species 

 described by Job (1917) seems to belong to Lechriorchis. 



RENIFER TEXANUS, new species 



Plate 2, Figure 2 



Specific diagnosis. — Renifer: Body with parallel sides, rounded at 

 each end, 1.83 to 2.2 mm long by 0.75 to 0.85 mm wide. The cuticula 

 is very thickly beset wdth spines in the anterior region, but more 

 sparsely so in the posterior region. The oral sucker is subterminal 

 with the mouth directed ventrad. It is 0.27 to 0.35 mm in diameter. 

 No prepharynx is present, and therefore the pharynx lies directly 

 above the caudal margin of the oral sucker. The esophagus is short, 

 about equal to the diameter of the pharynx. The ceca barely reach 

 the testes. The acetabulum lies anterior to the middle of the body. 

 It is a large structure measuring about 0.46 mm in diameter. The 

 testes are large, more or less oval structures, lying a short distance 

 behind the acetabulum. They may be arranged either symmetrically 

 or obliquely. They vary from 0.23 by 0.3 mm to 0.22 by 0.4 mm. 

 The vasa efferentia could not be traced. The cirrus sac, which con- 

 tains the seminal vesicle, extends diagonally across the body from 

 the left cephalic margin of the acetabulum. The genital pore is situ- 

 ated near the lateral body margin, slightly behind the middle of the 

 oral sucker. The ovary is a globular structure, lying on the left side, 

 dorsal to the caudal half of the acetabulum. It is about 0.2 mm in 



