Dr. O'Brj'en Bellingliam on Irish Eniozoa. 253 



{Intestines and pyloric ap- 

 pendages of salmon trout 

 {Sahno Tnitta). 



5. microcephalus ^ 



f Intestines of sun-fish (Or- 

 ■ \ thagorisciis Mola). 



sence of entozoa in the alimentary canal is not to be regarded as the 

 result of disease. 



* In the intestines and pyloric appendages of the salmon trout 

 (Sahno Tnitta) I have, upon several occasions, found a Bothrioce- 

 phalus which has many of the characters of B. infundibuUformis. It 

 resembles generally the B. proboscidens, but differs from it in some 

 respects. 



The length is about 12 inches or upwards; colour white; body- 

 thick ; diameter a third of a line anteriorl)', 2 lines posteriorly. The 

 head is large, triangular or subsagittate ; the depressions {bothrii) 

 deep and of an oblong shape. The neck is very distinct, and has a 

 greater diameter than the articulations immediately next to it ; the 

 articulations near the neck are somewhat funnel-shaped ; in the rest 

 of the body each second joint is more than double the length of that 

 before it ; near the posterior extremity all the articulations are short ; 

 the terminal joint is twice or three times the length of those ante- 

 rior to it, and is rounded at its extremity. A depressed median line 

 is seen upon the body running its whole length. 



When the animal is alive and in motion the shape of its head varies 

 much, and Avhen protruded fully it presents nearly the same cha- 

 racter as after lying in spirits of wine ; at other times the bothrii re- 

 semble merely two longitudinal lines ; when the animal is very much 

 contracted, the head resembles a rounded tubercle, with two circular 

 depressions upon its anterior surface. In a large specimen now be- 

 fore me the head has a much greater diameter than the articulations 

 nearest it, its base being nearly double their width. The bothrii are 

 enlarged, contracted and elongated constantly ; and when the body 

 is fully contracted the animal appears to be almost cylindrical. 



t In the intestines of a very large sun-fish (Orthagoriscus Mola) 

 which I examined, and which is now in the museum of the Natural 

 History Society of Dublin, I found an immense number of the 

 Bothriocephalus microcephahts, several of which lived in a vessel of 

 fresh water for twenty-four hours. 



The longest measured upwards of 3 feet in length ; at the widest 

 part of the body it was something more than 3 lines in diameter. 

 Colour white. The head is small, triangular or sagittate, and ter- 

 minates anteriorly in a little papillary eminence. The bothrii, two 

 in number, are of an oval shape, though wider posteriorly. There 

 is no neck. The anterior articulations are funnel-shaped, becoming 

 longer gradually ; the next are shorter ; the terminal articulations 

 appear to be merely transverse rug?e in some specimens ; the last ar- 

 ticulation is more acute than the others. This species is believed to 

 be peculiar to the sun-fish. 



