ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 125 
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is an account by S. Paulo Boccone of “an extraordinary Sav- 
guisuga or leech, found sometimes sticking fast in the fish called 
Xiphias or swordfish.’ Wt is described as “ about four Inches 
long, the Belly of it white, cartilaginous and transparent, with- 
out Eyes or Head, but instead of a Head it had a hollow Snout, 
encompassed with a very hard Membrane ; which Snout it thrusts 
whole into the Body of the Fish, as strongly as an Augre is 
wound into a piece of Wood, and fills it full of Blood into the 
very Orifice.” He names it “ Mzrudo or Acus cauda utringue pen- 
nata.’’* : 
A specimen taken off Seaconnet, July 22nd, 1875, had fluke 
worms in the external coat of the stomach and in the air- 
bladder. 
I am indebted to Mr. Frederick W. True for the following 
account of the parasites of the swordfish : 
The swordfish is infested by many species of parasites. Some 
hang on the gills, others fasten themselves to different parts of 
‘the alimentary canal—the cesophagus, the stomach, and the in- 
tines—and others still, bore into the flesh. Several species, as 
might be expected from the size of the fish, are among the giants 
of their races. All undoubtedly cause more or less pain to their 
host, but especially those which attach themselves to the gills, 
disturbing their action and destroying their substance. 
The parasites of the swordfish, for convenience, may be classi- 
fied in two groups, the worm-like parasites (/Ze/minthes) and the 
crustacean parasites. 
a. The worm-like parasites (Helminthes)—Seven species of ffe/- 
minthes from the swordfish have been described, of which one 
belongs to the group Mematoda, or roundworms, four to the 
Trematoda, or flukes, and two to the Cestoda, or tape-worms. 
[Description omitted. ] 
FISH PARASITES—THE SUCKERS OR REMORAS. 
Several species of “stays-ships”’ or “‘remoras” occur on our 
coast. The ordinary kind, such as Leptecheneis naucrateoides, the 
a kre Te ee 
* The | Philosophical | Transactions | and | Collections | To the End of the Year MDCC | 
Abridged | and | Disposed under General Heads | —— | Vol. II. | —— | Containing all the | 
Physiological Papers | —— | By John Lowthorp, M.A. and F.R.S. | 
