The miracidium of Lophotaspis vallei, an aspidogastrid of the loggerhead turtle was studied by Manter (1932). Wharton (1939) discovered that a juvenile stage of this trematode occurred in the flag conch, Fasciolaria gigas, collected in Gulf County, Fla. As Wharton indicated, miracidia doubtless penetrate the conch and develop without reproduction to the infective stage. Turtles would thus become infected by eating infected conchs.

SUMMARY

Over 200 species of Trematoda reported from fishes of the Gulf of Mexico include 10 species of Monogenea, 2 species of Aspidogastrea, and 196 species of Digenea. Of the Digenea, 18 species are gasterostomes, 178 species are prosostomes. Most of these trematodes have been studied only from the eastern portion of the Gulf at Tortugas, Fla.

Trematodes of other vertebrates of the Gulf have been studied very little. Fifteen species have been reported from Caretta caretta, the loggerhead turtle, at Tortugas. Two species are reported in this paper from Chelonia mydas, the green turtle. Three species of Trematoda are known in the Gulf. At least five other species have been reported from oceanic birds in the Caribbean, birds which are also common in the Gulf.

Larval stages of trematodes in mollusks of the Gulf include 22 species of cercariae at Tortugas. Cercariae of Parorchis acanthus have been reported from Thais floridana from the Louisiana coast. Here also oysters are commonly infected with gasterostome larvae.

Only three life cycles are known. Hamacreadium mutabile and H. gulella, adults of which occur in Lutjanidae (snappers), develop in a snail, Astrea americana, and then utilize Thalassoma bifasciatus, bluehead, or Halichoeres bivittatus, slippery dick, as second intermediate host. Juvenile stages of Lophotaspis vallei from the loggerhead turtle infect the flag conch, Fasciolaria gigas. A discussion of geographical distribution of trematodes of fishes points out (1) that the trematodes of fishes from 100 fathoms or deeper show practically no affinity to trematodes of surface waters of the Gulf but do show considerable affinity to species from fishes of distant but cold waters, (2) the trematode fauna of surface waters.

(less than 50 fathoms) shows a marked similarity to such faunas at Bermuda and in the tropical American Pacific, a similarity approximately twice as great as is shown to Beaufort, N. C., or Woods Hole, Mass. Further study of this phenomenon, at both the generic and specific level, is suggested.

LITERATURE CITED

CABLE, R. M., and MCLEAN, RICHARD A. 1943. The occurrence of Cercaria clausii Monticelli, a marine rattenkönig larval trematode, on the west coast of Florida. Notulae Naturae, Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, No. 129, pp. 1–7.

CHANDLER, A. C.

1935. Parasites of fishes in Galveston Bay. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 83: 123-157, 7 pls.

1941. Two new trematodes from the bonito, Sarda sarda, in the Gulf of Mexico. Jour. Parasit. 27(2): 183-184.

1951. Trematodes from the man-o-war bird, Fregata magnificens rothschildi, on the Texas coast, with the description of a new species, Schwartzitrema seamsteri. Tex. Jour. Sci. 3: 186-189.

FAUST, ERNEST CARROLL, and TANG, CHUNG-CHANG. 1936. Notes on new aspidogastrid species, with a consideration of the phylogeny of the group. Parasit. 28: 487-501.

MANTER, H. W.

1933a. A new family of trematodes from marine fishes. Trans. Am. Micros. Soc. 52 (3): 233–242, 1 pl. 1933b. The genus Helicometra and related trematodes from Tortugas, Florida. Carnegie Inst. Pub. No. 435, Pap. Tortugas Lab. 28 (11): 167-182, 3 pls. 1934. Some digenetic trematodes from deepwater fish of Tortugas, Florida. Carnegie Inst. Pub. No. 435, Pap. Tortugas Lab. 27: 257-345, 15 pls. 1935. The structure and taxonomic position of Megasolena estrix Linton, 1910, (Trematoda) with notes on related trematodes. Parasit. 27 (3): 431-439. 1937. The status of the trematode genus Deradena Linton with a description of six species of Haplosphanchnus Looss (Trematoda). Skrjabin Jubilee Volume, pp. 381-387.

1940a. Gasterostomes (Trematoda) of Tortugas. Carnegie Inst. Washington Pub. No. 524, Pap. Tortugas Lab. 33: 1-19.

1940b. The geographical distribution of digenetic trematodes of marine fishes of the tropical American Pacific. Allan Hancock Pac. Exp. 2 (16): 531-547. 1942. Monorchidae (Trematoda) from fishes of Tortugas, Florida. Trans. Am. Micros. Soc. 61: 349-360, 2 pls.

1947. The digenetic trematodes of marine fishes of Tortugas, Florida. Am. Mid. Nat. 38 (2): 257-416, 21 pls. 1949. An additional trematode from Tortugas, Florida, and a new name for Opisthoporus Manter, 1947, preoccupied. Am. Mid. Nat. 41 (2): 432–435.

& LARSON, MARY I.

1950. Two new blood flukes from a marine turtle Caretta caretta. Jour. Parasit. 36 (6): 595-599.

MCCOY, OLIVER R.

1929. The life-history of a marine trematode, Hamacreadium mutabile Linton, 1910. Parasit. 21: 220–225. 1930. Experimental studies on two fish trematodes of the genus Hamacreadium (Family Allocreadiidae). Jour. Parasit. 17: 1-13.

MELUGIN, JANE.

1940. Studies on marine fish trematodes of Louisiana. Abstr. Theses, Louisiana State Univ. (1938-39), Univ. Bull. 32, n. s. 1, p. 89.

MILLER, H. M., JR.

1925. Preliminary report on the larval trematodes infesting certain molluscs from Dry Tortugas. Carnegie Inst. Year Book No. 24, pp. 232–238.

1926. Behavior studies on Tortugas larval trematodes, with notes on the morphology of two additional species. Carnegie Inst. Year Book No. 25, pp. 243-247.

1927. Further studies on the behavior of larval trematodes from Dry Tortugas. Carnegie Inst. Year Book No. 26, pp. 224–226.

1929. Continuation of study on behavior and reactions of marine cercariae from Tortugas. Carnegie Inst. Year Book No. 28, pp. 292-294

MILLER, H. M., and McCoy, O. R.

1929. An experimental study of the behavior of the Cercaria floridensis in relation to its fish intermediate host. Carnegie Inst. Year Book No. 28, pp. 295–297.

PEARSE, A. S.

1949. Observations on flatworms and nemerteans collected at Beaufort, N. C. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 100: 25-38.

PRATT, HENRY S.

1910. Monocotyle floridana, a new monogenetic trematode. Pap. Mar. Biol. Lab. Tortugas, 4: 1-9. 1911. On Galactosomum cochleariforme Rudolphi. Zool. Anzeig. 38: 143–148.

1914. Trematodes of the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) of the Gulf of Mexico. Arch. Parasit. 16: 411-427, 2 pls.

1916. The trematode genus Stephanochasmus Looss in the Gulf of Mexico. Parasit. 8 (3): 229–238, 1 pl. PRICE, EMMETT W.

1939a. North American monogenetic trematodes. III. The family Capsalidae (Capsaloidea). Jour. Washington Acad. Sci. 29 (2): 63-92.

1939b. A new genus and two new species of digenetic trematodes from a marine turtle. Proc. Helminth Soc. Washington 6 (1): 24-25.

READ, CLARK P.

1947. A new trematode, Opecoeloides polyfimbiatus n. sp., from the lizard fish, Synodus foetens. Jour. Parasit. 33: 231–233.

RUIZ, JOSÉ MANOEL.

1946. Pronocephalidae (Trematoda). Estudo das espécies brasileiras e revisão da família. Mem. Inst. Butantan 19: 249-372.

SCHECHTER, VICTOR.

1943. Two flatworms from the oyster-drilling snail, Thais floridana haysae Clench. Jour. Parasit. 29: 362. SHORT, ROBERT B.

1953. A new blood fluke, Cardicola laruei n. g., n. sp. (Aporocotylidae) from marine fishes. Jour. Parasit. 39 (2): 304-309.

SOKOLOFF, DEMETRIO, and CABALLERO, EDUArdo. 1932. Una nueva espécie de trematodo parasito del intestino del manati. Anal. Inst. Biol. 3: 163–167. VIGUERAS, I. PÉREZ.

1935a. Sobre la presencia en Cuba de Diaschistorchis pandus (Braun) (Trematoda) parasito de Chelonia imbricata. Rev. Parasit., Clinical Lab., Hab. 1: 167-168. 1935b. Tristomum poeyi n. sp. (Trematoda), parasito de Makaira ampla Poey (Pisces). Mem. Soc. Hist., Nat. Habana 9 (1): 43–44.

1940a. Macrorchitrema havanensis,

n.

gen., n. sp. (Trematoda Paramphistomidae), parasito del intestino de Holacanthus tricolor Bloch (Pisces). Anal. Hist. Biol. 11 (1): 197–207.

1940b. Notas sobre algunas espécies nuevas de trematodes y sobre otras poco concoidas. Pub. Revist. Univ. Habana No. 28 & 29, pp. 1-28, 16 pls.

1940c. Prosogonotrematidae n. fam. y Prosogonotrema bilabiatum n. gen., n. sp. (Trematoda, Distomata) parasito de Ocyurus chrysurus (Bloch) (Pisces). Mem. Soc. Cub. Hist. Nat. 14 (3): 249–252, 1 pl. 1942. Notas helminthologicas. Univ. Habana Pub. bimestral, pp. 193–223.

The first work on cestodes of Gulf fishes was done by Linton on material collected by him at the Biological Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution at Dry Tortugas, Florida, in the summers of 1906-1908. They are discussed in Linton (1908b, 1909). No further work was done until Chandler (1935a, 1935b) reported some observations on helminths of fish in Galveston Bay, Texas. Perez Vigueras (1936), in a report of helminths in Cuba, reported three unidentified larvae of Trypanorhyncha from teleosts off the province of Havana. Potter (1937) described one additional new species of cestode from Dry Tortugas, and Shuler (1938) reported on some cestodes collected from this same locality by Manter in 1930-1932, adding one more valid new species. Chandler (1942) reported on some cestodes from sharks taken near Englewood, Florida, adding two two new species. Seamster (1950, personal communication) reported a few cestode infections from fishes taken in or near Corpus Christi Bay, Texas. Other than these few and incomplete investigations the cestodes of fishes in the Gulf of Mexico have not been studied. Further studies will undoubtedly yield many new species and bring to light interesting geographical relations with the fauna of the Caribbean Sea, the North Atlantic, and the Pacific Coast of Mexico. No cestodes have yet been reported from marine reptiles or mammals in the Gulf.

The cestode fauna so far known consists almost entirely of Tetraphyllidea and Trypanorhyncha which, as adults, parasitize practically all elasmobranchs in the Gulf and, as larvae, are found very commonly in the flesh or viscera of teleosts, often in such food fishes as members of the families Sciaenidae, Serranidae, and Lutjanidae. Although incapable of development in man they cause considerable economic loss because of popular antipathy to "wormy" fish. On the Texas coast the drum, Pogonias cromis, and to a

lesser extent other sciaenid fishes, very frequently harbor the plerocerci of Poecilancistrium robustum or related species which are known to fishermen as "spaghetti worms" because of their great length. The adults of these worms are probably parasitic in a shark or ray as are other Trypanorhyncha. Some city health departments have considered banning drum from the markets because of their very frequent infestation, but the writer has counseled against this since these fish are an important cheap source of protein food.

TETRAPHYLLIDEA

Family DISCULICIPITIDAE

Disculiceps pileatus (Linton, 1890) Joyeux and Baer, 1935. Host: Carcharinus leucas, cub shark.

Family CEPHALOBOTHRIIDAE Hexacanalis (?) marsupium (Linton, 1916) Dollfus, 1948. Host: Stoasodon narinari, spotted sting ray; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Family PHYLLOBOTHRIIDAE Phyllobrothrium foliatum Linton, 1890.

Host: Dasyatus sabina, southern sting ray; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Phyllobothrium mustelis (van Beneden, 1850) (=Orygmatobothrium angustum Linton, 1890.)

Host: Carcharinus leucas, cub shark; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Phyllobothrium lactuca van Beneden, 1850.

Host: Negaprion brevirostris, yellow shark; Dry Tortugas (Shuler).

Phyllobothrium dasybati Yamaguti, 1934.

Host: Negaprion brevirostris, yellow shark; Dry Tortugas (Shuler).

Phyllobothrium tumidum Linton, 1922.

Host: Scoliodon terrae-novae, sharp-nosed shark; Dry Tortugas (Shuler).

Phyllobothrium centrurum Southwell, 1925 (==Anthocephalum gracile Linton, 1890).

Host: Dasyatis sabina, southern sting ray; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Phyllobothrium sp.

Host: Dasyatis sabina, southern sting ray; Corpus Christi Bay (Seamster).

Rhinebothrium flexile Linton, 1890.

Host: Dasyatis sabina, southern sting ray; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Echeneibothrium minimum van Beneden, 1850.

Host: Dasyatis sabina, southern sting ray; Corpus Christi Bay (Seamster).

Anthobothrium laciniatum Linton, 1890.

Hosts: Hypoprion brevirostris; Dry Tortugas (Shuler); Carcharinus leucas, cub shark; Dry Tortugas (Linton). Anthobothrium variabile (Linton, 1890) Southwell, 1925. Host: Dasyatis sabina, southern sting ray; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Anthobothrium sp.

Host: Dasyatus sabina, southern sting ray; Corpus Christi Bay (Seamster).

Family ONCHOBOTHRIIDAE

Acanthobothrium brevissime Linton, 1909.

Host: Dasyatis sabina, southern sting ray; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Acanthobothrium coronatum (Rud., 1819) van Beneden, 1850 (=Onchobothrium tortum Linton, 1916).

Host: Stoasodon narinari, spotted sting ray; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Acanthobothrium sp.

Host: Dasyatis sabina, southern sting ray; Corpus Christi Bay (Seamster).

Thysanocephalum thysanocephalum (Linton, 1889) Braun, 1900.

Host: Galeocerdo cuvier, tiger shark; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Thysanocephalum rugosum Chandler, 1942.

Host: Galeocerdo cuvier, tiger shark; Englewood, Fla. (Chandler).

Cylindrophorus lasius (Linton, 1890) Southwell, 1925. Host: Carcharinus leucas, cub shark; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Cylindrophorus exceptus (Linton, 1924) Southwell, 1925. Host: Carcharinus leucas, cub shark; Rockport, Tex. (Seamster).

Pedibothrium globicephalum Linton, 1909.

Host: Ginglymostoma cirratum, nurse shark; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Pedibothrium longispine Linton, 1909.

Host: Ginglymostoma cirratum, nurse shark; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Pedibothrium brevispine Linton, 1909.

Host: Ginglymostoma cirratum, nurse shark; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Platybothrium hypoprioni Potter, 1937.

Host: Negaprion brevirostris, yellow shark; Dry Tortugas (Potter).

Onchobothrium sp. Linton, 1907.

Host: Stoasodon narinari, spotted sting ray; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Family PROTEOCEPHALIDAE

Proteocephalus australis Chandler, 1935a.

Host: Lepisosteus osseus, long-nosed gar; Galveston Bay (Chandler).

Proteocephalus elongatus Chandler, 1935a.

Host: Lepisosteus osseus, long-nosed gar; Galveston Bay (Chandler).

Scolex pleuronectis Muller, 1788 (=S. polymorphus Rud., 1819, of many writers).

A larval form in intestine, cystic duct, or gall bladder of many teleost fishes including Epinephelus striatus, Auxis thazard (not a Gulf fish; probably Euthynnus alletteratus), Mycteroperca bonaci, Lutjanus griseus, and Ocyurus chrysurus at Dry Tortugas (Linton), and Galeichthys felis and Bagre marina from Galveston Bay (Chandler).

TRYPANORHYNCHA

Family TENTACULARIIDAE

Nybelinia palliata (Linton, 1924) Joyeux and Baer, 1936. Host: Sphyrna zygaena, hammer-head shark; Englewood, Fla. (Chandler).

Family EUTETRARHYNCHIDAE Eutetrarhynchus lineatus (Linton, 1909) Dollfus, 1942. Host: Ginglymostoma cirratum, nurse shark; Dry Tortugas (Linton, Shuler).

Family OTOBOTHRIIDAE Otobothrium penetrans Linton, 1907.

Hosts: Carcharinus leucas, cub shark; Dry Tortugas (Linton); Carcharinus limbatus, spot-fin ground shark; Scoliodon terrae-novae, sharp-nosed shark; Dry Tortugas (Shuler).

Otobothrium curtum (Linton, 1909) Dollfus, 1942.
Hosts: Galeocerdo cuvier, tiger shark; immature,
Mycteroperca bonaci, black grouper; Epinephelus
striatus, Nassau grouper; Dry Tortugas (Linton).
Otobothrium crenacolle Linton, 1890.

Host: Carcharinus leucas, cub shark; Dry Tortugas (Linton).

Poecilancistrium robustum (Chandler, 1935b) Dollfus, 1942. Hosts: Im. Cynoscion nebulosus, spotted sea trout;

Galveston Bay (Chandler); also abundant in Pogonias cromis on Texas coast (Chandler, unpublished). Diploōtobothrium springeri Chandler, 1942.

Host: Sphyrna tudes, hammer-head shark; Englewood, Fla. (Chandler).

Family DASYRHYNCHIDAE Dasyrhynchus variouncinatus (Pintner, 1913) Pintner, 1928 (=Tentacularia insignis (Linton, 1924) Shuler, 1938; Dasyrhynchus insigne Chandler, 1942).

Host: Negaprion brevirostris, yellow shark; Dry Tortugas (Linton, Shuler).

Callitetrarhynchus gracilis (Rud., 1819) Dollfus, 1942 (= Rhynchobothrium speciosum Linton, 1897; Tentacularia lepida Chandler, 1935a; Tentacularia pseudodera Shuler, 1938).

Hosts: Negaprion brevirostris, yellow shark; Dry Tortugas (Shuler); Im., Epinephelus straitus, Nassau grouper, Mycteroperca bonaci, black grouper, M. venenosa, yellow-fin grouper, Lutjanus griseus, gray snapper; Dry Tortugas (Linton); Galeichthys felis, gaff-topsail catfish, Bagre marina, sea catfish; Galveston Bay (Chandler).