24 
Lernaeopoda scyllicola n. sp. 
The Alimentary canal, like that of many parasites, is degenerate and 
has no visible contents. A moderately long oesophagus leads into a dilated 
stomach which tapers off to form an intestine which apparently ends blindly 
(Fig. 11). Wilson (1915) is emphatic that no male member of the entire family 
possesses an anus. 
No special glands are present apart from those 
cells lining the canal, so that digestion is probably 
intra-cellular. Both stomach and intestine are thick- 
walled, and the inner layer of the latter is stated by 
Wilson to contain many modified cells which secrete 
a digestive enzyme, and thus it takes the place of a 
digestive gland. 
The males are merely epiphytic (epizoic) upon the 
females; certainly not parasitic. It has been suggested 
either: (1) that the males do not feed at all; hence 
perhaps the brief duration of their adult life, and the 
absence of functional teeth on the mandibles, and of 
an anus (though apparently Kane figures one in L. 
bidiscalis); or (2) that they are commensal, and par¬ 
ticipate in the meal of cellular tissue which the female 
has rasped off the unprotected soft portions of the 
extra-cloacal region of the host. An examination of 
the fluid extruded from the cloaca of the host under a 
high magnification revealed large numbers of charac¬ 
teristic spiral-headed spermatozoa of the dogfish, and 
enormous quantities of the eggs of the parasitic Ne¬ 
matode so well known to infest all parts of the dogfish’s 
alimentary canal. I suggest that he feeds on either of 
these, either being especially nutrient; if on the 
former, it may be the failure of the supply of these 
out of the breeding season (or “temporary season”) 
that leads to his early decease. 
The Reproductive System of the male consists of a pair of testes situated 
in the posterior third of the trunk (Fig. 2). Each testis is a pear-shaped body, 
obliquely placed, with its pointed end facing dorsally and forwards. The 
spermatocytes are situated at its base, while spermatozoa in various stages 
of development appear in the more pointed region. From the pointed end a 
short curved duct leads in an anterior direction to a relatively large cavity, 
the spermatophorogonium, whose thick and glandular walls secrete the 
spermatophore. From the spermatophorogonium the vas deferens finally 
descends, parallel at first with the previous duct in a posterior direction, but 
soon it turns ventrally and passes across the side of, or immediately below 
the testis, enlarging finally to form the genital aperture of that side. Each 
genital aperture is bounded laterally by a genital plate having a double border, 
Fig. 8. Lernaeopoda scylli¬ 
cola, showing the muscu¬ 
lature of the appendages. 
a 1 , antennular muscles; a 2 . 
antennal muscles; Mxl. 
and Mx 2. muscles of the 
first and second maxillae 
respectively; Mp. maxilli- 
pedal muscles; A.A. chi- 
tinous ridges of the abdo¬ 
minal appendages; Md. 
mandible. 
