Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T10:31:57.617Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A contribution to the morphology and life history of Proteocephalus niloticus (Beddard, 1913) from Varanus niloticus (L.) in Ghana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

Gwendolen Rees
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth

Extract

1. A plerocercoid of ‘Acanthotaenia’ has been found in large numbers in ‘cysts’ in the pancreas of Rana occipitalis (Günther) in Ghana.

2. ‘Cysts’ containing plerocercoids were fed to Varanus niloticus (L.). Adults of Proteocephalus niloticus (Beddard) were recovered from the intestine 3 weeks later.

3. It is suggested that the life cycle involves three hosts, the first being a copepod.

4. The morphology of the larva and adult is described.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the authorities of the University of Ghana for inviting me to spend some time in the Zoology Department there. I am most grateful, also, to Professor R. D. Purchon for his kindly interest and for the facilities which he placed at my disposal. It is a pleasure to thank Dr J. D. Thomas and the technical staff for their assistance in the collection of material.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1963

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Baer, J. G. (1927). Contributions to the anatomy of some reptilian cestodes. Parasitology, 19, 274–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baylis, H. A. (1929). On a larval form of Acanthotaenia. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. 10, 224–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beddard, F. E. (1913). Contributions to the anatomy and systematic arrangement of the Cestoidea. 7. On six species of tapeworms from reptiles, belonging to the genus Ichthyotaenia (s.l.). Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 7, 436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derrien, E. (1927). Porphyrines et vers parasites. C.R. Acad. Sci., Paris, 184, 480–1.Google Scholar
Essex, H. E. (1928). The structure and development of Corallobothrium with descriptions of two new fish tapeworms. Ill. Biol. monog. 11, no. 3, 174.Google Scholar
Gruber, F. A. (1878). Ein neuer Cestoden-Wirth. Zool. Anz. 1, 74–5.Google Scholar
Hunter, G. W. (1928). Contributions to the life history of Proteocephalus ambloplitis (Leidy). J. Parasit. 14, 229–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnston, T. H. (1909). On a new reptilian cestode. Proc. roy. Soc. N.S.W., 43, 103–16.Google Scholar
La Rue, G. R. (1909). On the morphology and development of a new cestode of the genus Proteocephalus Weinland. Trans. Amer. micr. Soc. 29, 1746.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
La Rue, G. R. (1914). A revision of the cestode family Proteocephalidae. Ill. Biol. monog. 1, 1351.Google Scholar
Linstow, O. von (1903). Drei neue Taenien aus Reptilien. Zbl. Bakt. (1. Orig.), 33, 532–35.Google Scholar
Magath, T. B. (1929). The early life history of Crepidobothrium testudo (Magath 1924). Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 23, 121–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moghe, M. A. (1926). Two new species of cestodes from Indian lizards. Rec. Indian Mus. 28, 5360.Google Scholar
Ratz, I. von (1900). Trois nouveaux cestodes de reptiles. C.R. Soc. Biol., Paris, 52, 980–81.Google Scholar
Rudin, E. (1917). Die Ichthyotaenien der Reptilien. Rev. suisse Zool. 25, 179381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wardle, P. A. & McLeod, J. A. (1951). The Zoology of Tapeworms, 780 pp. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Woodland, W. N. F. (1925). On three new proteocephalids (Cestoda) and a revision of the genera of the family. Parasitology, 17, 370–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamaguti, S. (1959). Systema Helminthum, Vol. 2. The Cestodes of Vertebrates, 860 pp. London: Interscience Publishers Ltd.Google Scholar