Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 April 2009
Fasciola tragelaphi sp.nov. from the bile ducts of a Tragelaphus spekei shot in the Chobe swamps of Rhodesia differs from other species of the genus in its very large size (10.2–12.0 cm long in fixed and mounted specimens), in the shape of its body and in the distribution and arrangement of the reproductive organs. The testes lie almost entirely in the posterior half of the body, well away from the female genitalia, which lie mostly in the anterior third of the worm. The ovary is always bilateral, and the coiled uterus runs in a straight line between the caeca to the genital atrium. A prepharyngeal pouch found in this species is compared with that found in other members of the genus Fasciola and in related genera.
We gratefully acknowledge the help given during the preparation of this paper by the staff of the Bureau, particularly Mr G. Dimmock for technical assistance. We would also like to thank Mr S. Prudhoe for reading the manuscript and offering useful advice, Mr B. Bracegirdle for producing the photograph of the whole worm reproduced in the Plate, fig. 1 and to Bechuanaland Hunters Ltd., particularly I. M. Henderson, for obtaining further specimens for examination.