Notes on New Aspidogastrid Species, with a Consideration of the Phylogeny of the Group

Abstract

1. Cotylaspis sinensis and Lophotaspis orientalis are described as new species of trematodes from the small intestine of the turtle, Amyda tuberculata, from Foochow, Fukien Province, China.2. Stichocotyle cristata is described as a new species from the spiral valve of the cow-nosed ray, Rhinoptera quadriloba, from Biloxi Bay, Mississippi.3. A new subgenus, Multicalyx, is created for the species Stichocotyle cristata, while the species S. nephropis appropriately belongs to a new subgenus Stichocotyle.4. Evidence is provided that aspidogastrid worms are referable neither to the Monogenea nor the Digenea, but belong to an intermediate subclass group, Aspidogastrea, n.n.5. The genus Stichocotyle has been removed from the family Aspidogastridae Poche, 1907, and placed in a new family, Stichocotylidae.