A new trematode of the genus Lechriorchis from the dark green snake (Zamenis gemonensis) / by Marie V. Lebour.

  • Lebour, Marie Victoria, 1876-1971.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A new trematode of the genus Lechriorchis from the dark green snake (Zamenis gemonensis) / by Marie V. Lebour. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    4/8 (page 934)
    Testes behind centre of bod^', right in front of left. Ciri'us-sa.c reaching to posterior margin of ventral sucker. Ovaiy on right side behind or slightly overlapping ventral sucker. Yolk-glands reaching from just in fi’ont of the level of the anterior margin of ventral sucker to centre of testes or behind them. Receptaculum seminis uterinum present on right side of body behind right testis. The body (fig. 1) is convex dorsally and nearly flat ventrally, both suekers being conspicuous and the ciiTus usually protruding from the genital pore. The length of matui’e worms varies from 5 to 10 mm.,the last-named being in the case of a specially well extended specimen examined under pressure. Unfoitunately, this large specimen was damaged before being fixed. One immature specimen occurred measuring 4'4 mm. in length which contained a few eggs and had a very short uterus. In breadth the worms measured from T2 mm. to T9 mm., the greatest breadth being in the region of the ventral sucker. The average length is about 5'5 mm., breadth T4 mm, A good deal of interesting variation occurred in the arrangement of the organs. The suckers vary but little, the ratio of tlie oral and ventral suckers being almost exactlj^ 2 : 3. Both are circular in outline with circular apertures. The aperture of the oral sucker measures about 0*20 mm. across; the aperture of the ventral sucker is more than half the width of the sucker and very regular and conspicuous. The usual position of the ventral sucker is with its centre almost exactly at the anterior third of the body. It may, however, be a little fui ther back. In the young specimen it is much nearer the centre of the body, a fact to be expected as the hind portion of the body always increases to a much greater extent than the fore part. The prephaiynx is exceedingly shoi-t but quite distinct; the pharynx is broad and muscular, the breadth slightly greater than the length (length 0'20 mm.); the oesophagus is about the same length as the pharynx. Surrounding the pharynx are large glandular cells which are continued foi' a short distance down the (esophagus. Pharyngeal glands are mentioned by Stafford in L. primus (1905). The intestinal caeca vary in thickness in different parts and reach usually about 0'60 mm. beyond the te.stes; beginning near the centre of the body, they gradually become more lateral and slightly ventral in position until they reach the testes, when they become quite irregular and may be both dor.sal to the testes or one ventral and one dorsal (fig. 3); and one may be longer than the other, in one case quite twice as much extending beyond the left testis as the right. The usual length beyond the testes is 0‘60 mm. Sometimes the caeca bend inwards so as to be completely internal to the testes. The ends are swollen and very much broader in the posterior than in the anterior part. The excretory vesicle is large and opens at the extreme postei'ior [2]