A new cycloposthiid ciliate (Triplumaria hamertoni gen.n., sp.n.) parasitic in the Indian rhinoceros

Abstract

In August, 1933, I received from Colonel A. E. Hamerton, C.M.G., D.S.O., R.A.M.C. (ret.), Pathologist to the Zoological Society of London, samples of a stool obtained from an Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) on exhibition in the Society's Gardens. The animal in question was at that time suffering from severe diarrhoea and wasting, and its faeces—preserved in 5 per cent formalin—contained numerous undetermined ciliates. On examination of the material I found that two kinds of ciliates were present, one a typical Entodinium (Entodiniomorpha Ophryoscolecidae), and the other an entodiniomorphous form obviously belonging to the Cycloposthiidae, but differing from all the members of this family hitherto described.