FAMILY I. SPIROCHAETACEAE 



895 



1. Saprospira graiidis Gross, 1911. (Mit- 

 theil. Zool. Stat, zu Neapel, 20, 1911, 190.) 



gran'dis. L. adj. grandis large. 



Cylindrical, flexible, elastic, spiral -shaped 

 rods, 1.2 by 80 microns, with obtuse ends. 

 The waves are large, inconstant, shallow, 

 irregular, 3 to 5 in number and sometimes 

 almost straight. Spiral amplitude: 24 mi- 

 crons. There is no evident a.xial filament 

 and no crista; cross striations are present. 

 There is a distinct membrane but no ter- 

 minal spiral filament and no highly motile 

 end portion. Multiplication is by transverse 

 fission. The cells undergo trypsin digestion. 



Source: From the intestinal tract of an 

 oyster. 



Habitat: Found free-living in foraminif- 

 erous sand. 



2. Saprospira punctuni Dimitroff, 1926. 

 (Saprospira puncia (sic) Dimitroff, Jour. 

 Bact., 12, 1926, 146.) 



punc'tum. L. noun punctum a point. 



Large spirals, 1 by 86 microns, with 



pointed ends. Spiral amplitude: 4 to 8 mi- 

 crons; average number of turns: 3. There is 

 no evident axial filament; cross striations 

 are present. There is a distinct membrane. 

 Multiplication is by transverse fission. 

 Source: From oysters. 



3. Saprospira lepta Dimitroff, 1926. 

 (Jour. Bact., 12, 1926, 144.) 



lep'ta. Gr. adj. leptus fine, delicate. 



Large spirals, 0.5 by 70 microns, with 

 pointed ends. Spiral amplitude: ranges 

 from 5 to 13 microns; spiral width: varies 

 from 1.6 to 4.8 microns; average number of 

 turns: 6. There is no evident axial filament; 

 cross striations are present. There is a dis- 

 tinct membrane. Multiplication is by trans- 

 verse fission. 



Comments: A variety which differs from 

 the parent strain in the shape of the ends of 

 the cells has been reported by Dimitroff 

 (ibid., 145). 



Source: From oysters from Baltimore, 

 Maryland. 



Genus III. Cristispira Gross, 1910. 

 (Mittheil. Zool. Stat, zu Neapel, 20, 1910, 41.) 



Cris.ti .spi'ra. L. noun crista a crest; Gr. noun spira a spiral; M.L. fem.n. Cristispira 

 crested-spiral. 



Flexuous cell bodies, in coarse spirals, 28 to 120 microns in length. Possess cross stria- 

 tions and a crista, or thin membrane of varying prominence, on one side of the body ex- 

 tending the entire length of the organism. Actively motile. Found in the intestinal tracts 

 of molluscs. 



The type species is Cristispira balbianii (Certes) Gross. 



1. Cristispira balbianii (Certes, 1882) 

 Gross, 1912. {Trypanosoma balbianii Certes, 

 Bull. Soc. Zool. de France, 7, 1882, 347; 

 Gross, Cent. f. Bakt., I Abt., Orig., 65, 1912, 

 90.) 



bal.bi.a'ni.i. M.L. gen. noun balbianii of 

 Balbiani; named for Balbiani. 



Cylindrical, flexible, elastic, spiral-shaped 

 rods, 1 to 3 by 40 to 120 microns, with obtuse 

 ends. The waves are large, irregular, shallow 

 and 2 to 5 in number, sometimes more. Spiral 

 amplitude: 8 microns; spiral depth: 1.6 mi- 

 crons. There is no evident axial filament; 

 cross striations are present. A crista, a 

 ridge-like membrane, making one or two 

 complete turns is present. There is a distinct 



membrane but no terminal spiral filament 

 and no highly motile end portion. With re- 

 spect to staining, the cell membrane behaves 

 like chitin or cutin substance: it stains vio- 

 let with Giemsa's solution and light gray 

 with iron-hemotoxylin. The membrane is 

 resistant to trypsin digestion, but the crista 

 and the striations disappear. 



Bile salt (10 per cent) : Crista quicklj^ dis- 

 solves. 



Saponin (10 per cent) : Crista becomes 

 fibrillar then indistinct. 



Source: From the crystalline styles of 

 oysters. 



Habitat: Parasitic in the alimentary 

 tracts of shellfish. 



