ART. 17 PARASITES OF AMPHIBIA AND EEPTILIA HAEWOOD 25 



by a duct at the point where the ootype enters the uterus. He 

 states that it can not be seen readily in whole mounts as the egg- 

 laden coils of the uterus conceal it. I let some of my specimens 

 remain in tap water until the uterus had been emptied. In these, 

 motile spermatozoa could be plainly seen in the descending portion 

 of the uterus in live specimens, but I was unable to locate any 

 seminal receptacle either in live or in stained material. Two of the 

 flukes were sectioned, but again it was not possible to locate a semi- 

 nal receptacle. As this structure is lacking in other genera of the 

 Reniferinae, it seems probable that it is lacking in Stomatreiyia. 

 Also, my material is about twice the size of Guberlet's, and in some 

 specimens the vitellaria extend caudad as far as the middle of the 

 ventral sucker. These latter-mentioned differences are of no im- 

 portance and may be readily explained on the basis of individual 

 variation and different states of contraction. 



Family GORGODERIDAE Loess, 1901 

 Subfamily GORGODERINAE Loess, 1899 



Genus GORGODERA Looss, 1899 



The bladder flukes of North American frogs were very ably re- 

 vised by Cort (1912). Since that time only one paper has appeared 

 concerning North American forms. 



GORGODERA AMPLICAVA Looss, 1899 



I have taken many specimens of Gorgodera from the bladder of 

 Rana catesheiana both at Houston and at Huntsville, Tex. Although 

 this fluke is known to have a wide host range, I have been unable to 

 find it in any other local species of frogs. Guberlet (1920) has de- 

 scribed Gorgodera circava from the bladder of Rana catesheiana in 

 Oklahoma. This fluke differs from G. anifUcava in ratio of the oral 

 sucker to the acetabulum, the number of vitellarian follicles, the 

 lobation of the ovary, and the possession of an ejaculatory pouch. 

 The number of vitellarian follicles and the lobation of the ovary are 

 in my material very variable characters. Furthermore, the ratio of 

 the oral sucker to the acetabulum in my material covers the entire 

 range reported for both Gorgodera aynjylicava and G. circava. The 

 variations, however, showed a strange chronological sequence. In 

 the early part of my collecting I killed my specimens by pouring 

 fixative over them, after the manner recommended by Guberlet. 

 Lat€r I discovered that these flukes could be shaken from the bladder 

 easily if the dish containing them was first thoroughly chilled by ex- 

 posure to an ice-salt mixture. The degree of cold also completely 

 relaxed the flukes, and they could then be killed with any cold fixa- 



