NEMATODE PARASITES OF BIRDS 343 



Life history. — Probably similar in a general way to that of T. 

 fissispina (p. 343). 



Distribution. — South America (Brazil). 



TETRAMERES FISSISPINA (Diesing, 1861) Travassos, 1914 



Synonyms. — Tropidoce?xa fissispina Diesing, 1861 ; Tropisurus fis- 

 sispinus (Diesing, 1861) Neumann, 1888; Acanthophorus tenuis 

 Linstow, 1876; Acanthophorus horridus Linstow, 1876; Tropidocerca 

 tenuis Linstow, 1899 ; FUa7*ia pulicis Linstow, 1894 ; Spiroptera puli- 

 cis (Linstow, 1894) Linstow, 1909. The nematode described by 

 Travassos in 1914 as T . fissispina is T. confusa. 



Hosts. — Primary: Anas boschas, Anas boschas domestica, Anas 

 boschas fera, Columba livia domestica, Cygnus melanocoryphus, 

 Fulica atra, Meleagris gallopavo, Mergus merganser, Nyroca ferina, 

 Podiceps fluviatilis; secondary : Daphnia, pulex and Gammarus 

 pulex, the former being reported by Rust and the latter by Linstow 

 in his description of /Spiroptera (Filaria) pulicis, which Seurat con- 

 siders to be the fourth stage larva of T. fissispina. 



Location. — Proventriculus, the males in the lumen, the females in 

 the crypts of Lieberkuehn, in birds; in the body cavity of secondary 

 hosts as larvae. 



Morphology. — Tetrameres (p. 334) : Mouth with 3 small lips (figs. 

 407 and 408), chitinous mouth capsule, and muscular pharynx and 

 esophagus. In other respects male and female very dissimilar. 



Male 3 to 6 mm. long by 140 to 150/* wide; white and slender. 

 Transverse striations more or less marked. The two median and two 

 lateral lines are each provided with a longitudinal series of spines; 

 behind the cloacal aperture there are 5 ventral spines on each and 

 3 lateral spines on each side (fig. 408). Considerable difference of 

 opinion has been expressed as to the nature of the spines on the body 

 of the male, and as to the basis for the specific name, referring to the 

 cleft spines. Diesing in his original description, after describing 4 

 longitudinal series of spines on the body, and 2 subbasilar conical 

 spines on the neck, writes that the head is provided with spines cleft 

 at their ends. Lieberkuehn (1855) described and pictured double 

 spines in the submedian lines; Linstow (1876) described and figured 

 in Acanthophorus tenuis and A. horridus such double spines and 

 later (1899) made these two species synonyms of T. fissispina; how- 

 ever, at that time he states " Lieberkuehn described on the head end 

 double spines; I also have seen this formation. However, they are 

 always located in the concave bending lines (Beugungslinien) and I 

 consider them duplicatures of the cuticle." Railliet (1893) and Neu- 

 mann (1909) describe the spines at the cephalic end, up to the origin 

 of the intestine, as characteristically double or cleft. Seurat, how- 

 3612— 27 24 



