Cylindrogaster coprophaga gen. et sp. nov. A Nematode found in a Culture of Fæces from a Wild Brown Rat

Abstract

Free-living nematodes commonly occur in cultures of fæces, and as Looss (1911) showed years ago they have frequently been mistaken for the developmental stages of parasitic nematodes. For this reason it is important that detailed knowledge of the morphology of such free-living forms should be available. With this end in view the following illustrated account of what appears to be a new genus of nematode has' been prepared. The worms occurred originally in a culture of the fæces of a brown rat, Rattus norvegicus, made for the study of the free-living stages of the Strongyloides of the rat; and as after detailed study it has been found impossible to find any existing description of nematodes which agree with the structural appearances shown by the worms, it has been decided to create a new genus for their reception.