THREE NEW PARASITES OF THE GENUS
                ACANTHOCOLPUS LUHE, 1906 (FAMILY-
                             ACANTHOCOLPIDAE)*

                                                BY

                         HAR DAYAL SRIVASTAVA, D.Sc.

                            Helminthologist (On special duty)

       Imperial Veterinary Research Institute, Mukteswar-Kumaun

                     (Received for publication on 8th June 1938)

                                        (With Plate XVIII)

LUHE in 1906 created the genus Acanthocolpus and the subfamily Acan-
thocolpinae for a parasite which was collected amongst others from Ceylonese
fishes by Professor Herdman and Mr. Hornell and were given to him for
study. Three years later he created the family Acanthocolpidae with Acan-
thocolpus as the type genus. Hitherto the genus is represented only by the
type species— A. liodorus Luhe, 1906.

                                   Acanthocolpus luhei, n. sp.

Host.— Gerres punctatus Cuv. and Val.

Habitat.—Intestine.

Locality.—Puri and Karachi, Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.

A large number of specimens of this species was collected from the intestine
of a marine fish examined at Puri and Karachi. The parasite has an elongated
body which tapers gradually from the acetabular region towards the hinder
end. It bears small, cuticular spines all over. The spines are closely set
anteriorly and become sparse towards the hinder end. Minute, deeply stain-
ing gland cells are present all over the body, but they are specially well develop-
ed on the sides. In permanent mounts the trematode measures 3.2 to 3.9 †
in length and 0.5 to 0.68 in maximum breadth. The oral sucker is an ex-
tremely small, conical structure of 0.06 to 0.08 by 0.08 to 0.1 size. It is
anteriorly directed and is followed by a narrow 0.2 to 0.22 long prepharynx,
an oral pharynx of 0.14 to 0.15 by 0.08 to 0.09 size and an extremely small
oesophagus. The intestinal caeca are simple, narrow tubes extending up to
the hinder end. The acetabulum is well developed and measures 0.24 to
0.28 in diameter. It is situated at the end of the first eighth of the body
length.

* Presented to the Section of Veterinary Research of the Indian Science Congress
1938, Calcutta.
† All measurements are in mm.

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