STUDIES ON THE LIFE HISTORY OF ANISOPORUS MANTERI HUNNINEN AND CABLE, 1940 (TREMATODA : ALLOCREADIIDAE)

¹ From Oklahoma City University, Purdue University, and the Marine Biological Laboratory

The life history of Anisoporus manteri Hunninen and Cable, 1940, has been traced experimentally. The cercaria, a cotylomicrocercous type, develops in sporocysts in the marine snail, Mitrella lunata (Say) and encysts in the marine amphipods, Carinogammarus mucronatus (Say) and Amphithoë longimana Smith. Old metacercariae contain eggs in the uterus and cystic fluid. Adult worms occur in the intestine of the marine fishes, Syngnathus fuscus Storer, Paralichthys dentatus (Linnaeus), Hippoglossoides platessoides (Fabricius), Apeltes quadracus (Mitchill), Fundulus heteroclitus (Linnaeus) and F. majalis (Walbaum).

It is proposed that the family Allocreadiidae be restricted to include only trematodes having cotylomicrocercous cercariae and simplified excretory patterns, since the type genus, Allocreadium, would be included in the restricted family. Consequently, the family name, Opecoelidae, would be suppressed as a synonym of Allocreadiidae sensu stricto.