1 1 54 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



The oldest record of a salmon parasite that I have been able to verify is 

 found in a paper by Sporing (175,^), in which he defends the thesis that inhabit- 

 ants of fiuviatile regions are more annoyed by tapeworms than those of other 

 places, no doubt because of the use of half-raw fish. Of weight for his argument 

 is the list of half a dozen fish, including Salmo salar, in which, according to his 

 observations, tapeworm" larvae are present. The view that man was indebted 

 to the salmon for infection with fish tapeworms was generally current in early 

 times and, though supported by no scientific evidence, persisted until finally 

 thoroughly disproved by Zschokke (1890). Now it may be regarded as fully 

 established that man does not acquire a single parasite in any way by the use 

 of salmon as food. 



O. F. Miiller (1776, 1777, 1780) was the first to describe and name accord- 

 ing to scientific principles some of the parasites from Salmo salar. He named 

 Fasciola varica, afterwards called Distoma varicum by Zeder; Echinorhynchus 

 salmonis, changed to E. inflatus by Rudolphi; E. Icevis, later changed to E. nodu- 

 losus; Tcenia solida, which later became Bothriocephalus solidus Rudolphi, and 

 TcBtiia salmonis, later called B. proboscideus Rudolphi. 



Goeze (1782) gave the first description of Echinorhynchus quadrirostris, 

 later more correctly diagnosed and named Tetrarhynchus appendiculatus by 

 Rudolphi (1809). Goeze also gave a good description of the encapsulated nema- 

 tode Xarva. common in salmon, which he referred to Cucullanus, though doubt- 

 fully. Rudolphi afterwards named this form Ascaris capsularia. 



The first formal list of parasites from Salmo salar is that given by Rudolphi 



in 18 10, who lists as parasites already recorded for this host eight * species, as 



follows : 



Bothriocephalus proboscideus. 

 Bothriocephalus solidus. ' 



Tetrarhynchus appendiculatus. 

 Distoma varicum. 

 Ascaris capsularia. 

 Dub. (? Cucullanus). 

 Echinorhynchus inflatus. 

 Echinorhynchus (?) nodulosus. 



It is of interest to note that Rudolphi records opposite every one of these 

 named from six to eight earlier references to the particular species. Five of 

 them were originally observed by O. F. Miiller, two by Goeze, and one is a doubt- 

 ful species. 



"Braun (1894), who cites the case, says Ligula larvae, but as this genus has not been recorded for 

 Salmo salar I lake it to apply only to certain of the host species listed. The original author of course 

 did not distinguish even genera in his obser\'ations. 



6 In the appendix (vol. 11, part 2, p. 376) Rudolphi lists another find under the name of Distoma 

 crenaium. This material was examined by Liihe (1901, 401) and pronounced not a hemiurid, but fur- 

 ther determination could not be made. 



