Dr. Éva Murai szerk.: Miscellanea Zoologica Hungarica 4. 1987 (Budapest, 1987)

Murai, É.: Triodontolepis torrentis sp. n. (Cestoda: Hymenolepididae) a parasite of Neomys fodiens (Insectivora)

BAER (1932) characterized Hymenolepis neomidis (Baer, 1931) from Neomys fodiens captured in the environs of Geneva, with 18 rostellar hooks 22 jum long, and the form was depicted as having a strong guard with a little bifurcation on the tip. This species was regarded by JOYEUX and BAER (1952) as a synonym of H. hamanni (Mrázek, 1891). BAER examined tapeworms of Neomys fodiens and the cysticercoids of hymenolepidids in two localities in Switzerland (Geneva and St. Blaise aff. Neuchâtel). He observed scoleces with rostellar hooks measuring about 20 jam (Geneva) and with hooks about 30 jum in length too (Neuchâtel). It is possible that the population in the environs of Geneva (type locality of H. neomidis) belongs to the form inhabiting the Balkan Peninsula (16-18 hooks, 21-24 jum long and 19,

um at the basis (T. hamanni sensu GENOV, 1984), in which case the name H. neomidis Baer, 1931 is valid and the species should be included in the genus Triodontolepis Yamaguti, 19 59, as Triodontolepis neomidis (Baer, 1931) comb. n. YAMAGUTI referred Hymenolepis miniopteri Sandars, 19 57 to the genus Triodonto lepis. This species is a parasite of Australian bats and the shape of its hooks is unlike the bifurcate type of Triodontolepis

. In H. miniopteri it is not the lobe of the guard which is bifurcate but at the junction of the handle and the blade on both sides there is a pronounced extrusion which SANDARS considered a specific character: "There are 20-25 rostellar hooks which are 14-16 jum long and with a very characteristic shape, having an accessory lateral flange to the unusual hymenolepidid rostellar hook. This flange is near the junction of the blade with the base of each hook" (see Fig. 6, after SANDARS' 19 57). SPASSKY and ANDREJKO (1969) considered this species as a member of the genus Vampirolepis Spassky, 1954. My own observations substantiate this notion: in Vampirolepis species infesting Hungarian bats (e.g. V. acuta /Rudolphi, 1819/, V. baeri Murai, 1976) there is laterally a small lobe on either side of the base of the guard which is 4-6 jam long and ca. 2 jam high, analogous with the "lateral flange" of SANDARS. The same morphology of hooks was presented by VAUCHER (1982): Hymenolepis elon- gatus (Rego, 1962) and H. phyllostomi Vaucher, 1982, parasites of South American bats, both have a small lobe on the side of blade (see Figs 7-9). It is not the presence but the size of this character by V. miniopteri which is extraordinary in members of this genus. Therefore V. miniopteri Sandars, 1957 should not be included in the genus Triodontolepis. Members of the genus Trio

dontolepis have not been reported from rodents and in fact their occurrence in other insectivore genera has not been reliably documented. Hence, members of the genus Triodontolepis are considered specific parasites of Neomys species. LIFE CYCLE Intermediate hosts of Triodontolepis species are freshwater shrimps, Gammarus (Ri- vulogammaru

s) pulex (Linné, 1758) and related species. T. hamanni (as Cysticercus hamanni was based by MRAZEK (1891) on cysticercoids from G. pulex and characterised by 18-22 rostellar hooks each 30 jam long. This species was revised and redescribed by LINSTOW (1892) and the correct measurements of the hooks were given as 25 Jim, both authors qualified the shape of hooks as "bifurca-type"

. BAER and JOYEUX (1943), JOYEUX and BAER (1936, 1952), PROKOPIC and GROSCHAFT (1961), VAUCHER and HUNKELER (1967), VALKOUNOVÁ (1985) recorded the larval form of T. hamanni in Gammarus spp.

, all came to the same conclusion as to the shape and measurements of the rostellar hooks. Cysticercoids of T. bifurca (Hamann, 1891) were described as Cysticercus Taeniae bi- furcae, reported by HAMANN (1891) and LINSTOW (1892) as having 10 hooks measuring 65 jam in length from the intermediate host Gammarus pulex. BAER and JOYEUX (1943), JOYEUX and BAER (1952), VAUCHER and HUNKELER (1967), PROKOPIC and GROSCHAFT (1961) were of the same opinion. VALKOUNOVÁ (1985) examined cysticercoids of T. sumavensis Prokopic, 1957 and of T. bifurca (Hamann, 1891) and gave the differences between the rostellar hooks of the two species: according to her paper in T. bifurca 10 hooks measured 47- 64 aim, and in T. sumavensis 10 hooks measured 72-76 jam in length. She collected the cysticercoids from Gamma rus (R. ) fos saru m Koch, 1853 (syn. of G

. pulex) in the territory of the source of the Vltava and in the Sumava Mts.