NEMATODE PARASITES 01 BIRDS 325 



OXYSPIRURA BREVISUBULATA (Molin, 1860) Stossich, 1897 



Synonyms. — Spiroptera brevisubulata Molin, 1860; Spiroptera 

 strigis Molin, 1860. 



Hosts. — Primary: Strix airicapilla (=Otus choliba) ; secondary: 

 Unknown. 



Location. — Under nictitating membrane. 



Morphology. — Oxyspirura (p. 321) : Body filiform, gradually at- 

 tenuated anteriorly, apex truncate. Two lateral cervical spines (pa- 

 pillae), directed posteriorly. Molin described 4 membranous alae on 

 the head, but. Drasche, re-examining the same material, failed to find 

 these but describes 2 lateral bladderlike expansions of the cuticula 

 between the head and the cervical papillae. Mouth hexagonal, with- 

 out lips, surrounded by 2 lateral and 4 submedian papillae. 



Male 15 mm. long by 300ft wide. Tail coiled in 2 turns, short, 

 abruptly subulate, with acute point. Caudal alae absent. Four pairs 

 of preanal and (?) 8 pairs of postanal papillae. Spicules unequal, 

 the right short and thick, the left filiform and twice as long as the 

 right. 



Female 21 mm. long by 500/x wide. Tail short, subulate, sharply 

 pointed. Anus remote from tail end. Vulva very prominent, a short 

 distance anterior to anus. 



Life history. — Unknown ; probably involves intermediate stages in 

 other hosts. 



Distribution. — South America (Brazil). 



OXYSPIRURA MANSONI (Cobbold, 1879) Ransom. 1904 



Synonyms. — Filaria mansoni Cobbold, 1879; Spiroptera emmer- 

 ezii Emmerez and Megnin, 1901; Spiroptera mansoni (Cobbold, 

 1879) Gedoelst, 1903. 



Hosts. — Primary : Gall us gallus, Meleagris gaJlopavo, Pavo cris- 

 tatus; secondary : Unknown. 



Location. — Under the nictitating membrane and, occasionally, in 

 nasal cavities and sinuses. 



Morphology. — Oxyspirura (p. 321) : Body attenuated at both ends, 

 the anterior end rounded, the posterior end pointed. Cuticula 

 smooth. No membranous appendages. A pair of small papillae 

 near the tip of the tail in both sexes. Mouth (lig. 389 a and b) cir- 

 cular, surrounded by a 6-lobed cutinous or chitinous ring and with 

 2 lateral and 4 submedian papillae in relation with the clefts of this 

 ring; 4 sublateral papillae posterior to these. A pair of cervical pa- 

 pillae, near the origin of the esophagus. The buccal cavity or phar- 

 ynx has a short wide anterior portion and a long narrow posterior 

 portion. Club-shaped esophagus about 1.5 mm. long. 



