Dr. Murai Éva szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 13. (Budapest, 1980)

Parasit. Huna. 13. 1980. On some Parasitic Helminths from Spanish Bats Dr. Ferenc MÉSZÁROS — Dr. Santiago MAS-COMA Zoological Department of the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary — Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain "On some parasitic helminths from Spanish bats" - Mészáros, F. - Mas-Coma, S. Parasit. Hung. 13. 59-64. 1980. ABSTRACT. Records of Plagiorchis vespertilionis (Müller, 1784) (Trematoda: Plagiorchioidea: Plagiorchiidae), Molinostrongylus panousei Dollfus, 1954 (Nematoda: Trichostrongyloidea: Molineidae) and Litomosa beaucournui Bain, 1966 (Nematoda: Filarioidea: Onchocercidae) from Miniopterus schreibersi (Kuhl, 1819) (Chiroptera: Ve spertilionidae) from Catalonia, Spain. Descriptions and notes on the three helminth species are given. M. panousei and L. beaucournui are recorded for the first time in Spain. Only a few papers on the helminth fauna of Spanish bats are known up to the present (see CORDERO DEL CAMPILLO et al. , 1975, 1977; SANCHEZ-ACEDO, OTERO and ALBALA-PEREZ, 1974; .VAU CHER, 1975). Dr. J. GOSALBEZ (Barcelona) kindly provided 25 specimens of Miniopterus schreibersi (Kuhl, 1819) (Vespertilionidae) and 1 specimen of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Schreber, 1774) (Rhinolophidae) for parasitological study, all conserved in alcohol. These hosts were collected in the Avenc d'en d'Avi Cave, Sant Lloren^ de Munt, Tarrassa (prov. Barcelona, Spain) on December 1976. One Digenean and two Nematode species were found in Miniopterus schreibersi. The specimen of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum was not infected with helminths. The above mentioned parasites are described and discussed in the following. Fam. PLAGIORCHIIDAE Lühe, 1901 Plagiorchis vespertilionis (Müller, 1784) Material: 19 specimens Description (Fig. 1) Body 1.435-1. 782 mm long, 0.441-0. 653 mm wide. Cuticle covered with spines from the anterior part to the level of ventral sucker, their density decreasing posteriorly. Oral sucker of 0. 184-0. 198/0. 144-0. 198 mm. Ventral sucker of 0. 158-0. 194/0. 147-0. 193 mm. Ratio of suckers (surface of oral sucker/ventral sucker) ranging from 0.82 to 1.39 (average 1. 15). Acetabulum at a distance of 0. 197-0.274 mm from the oral sucker. Pharynx of 0. 075-0. 090/0. 054-0. 079 mm. Testes situated transversally, anterior testis measuring 0.126-0.216/0.108-0.151 mm, posterior one 0.144-0.187/0.108-0,180 mm. Ovary spherical, of 0. 108-0. 144/0. 100-0. 126 mm. Cirrus sac measuring 0. 290-0. 334/0. 083-0. 094 mm well developed, its base reaching the lower margin of ovary. Genital pore preacetabular

, in the median line of body. Vitelline follicles extending from the level of genital pore to the posterior end of body, showing normal intraspecific variability. Uterus intracaecal, filled with eggs measuring 0.0306-0.0350/0. 0198-0.0216 mm. Notes The systematic problems posed by the genus Plagiorchis Lühe, 1899 are well known. Experimental papers such as that of BLANKESPOOR (1974) show how great the adult intraspecific morphological variability of the species of this genus can be. BLANKESPOOR (1974) concludes: "This work provides evidence that the only valid morphological criterion for distinguishing species appears to be the relative diameters of oral sucker and acetabulum egg size is also relatively constant within a given species Because of pronounced mor-