FOUR NEW SPECIES OF TREMATODES (FAMILY DICROCOELIIDAE) FROM BIRDS OF YUNNAN PROVINCE, CHINA

In the years 1964-1965,a zoological expedition was organized by the Institute of Zoology,Academia Sinica to collect birds and mammals in Yunnan Province,Southwest China,while specimens of helminthes were also collected in the same area.There are four species of avian trematodes belonging to the family Dicrocoeliidae Odhner,1911,reported in this paper,namely Brachydistomum hypsipetum sp.nov.;B.briarace-tabulum sp.nov.;B.yunnanense,sp.nov.,and Platynotrema sinica sp.nov.All the measurements are in mm.The type and paratype specimens are deposited in the Institute of Zoology,Academia Sinica,Peking.1.Brachydistomum hypsipetum sp nov.(fig.1) Host:Hypsipetes madagascarienm concolor Blyth.Location:Bile ducts.Date:May 1,1964.Frequency:Bight specimens from one of the five hosts Discussion;This species is distinguished from the previously described species of the genus by the testes mostly arranged symmetrically and the acetabulum lying in the middle of the anterior one-third of the body.It also differs from B.microcelis (Yamaguti,1933) Travassos,1944,secured from a different host in the same genus Hypsipetes in the proportion of the body width and the body length being 1:6 and the position,arrangement,and shape of the vitellaria with fewer vitelline follicles.2.Brachydistomum briaracetabulum sp.nov.(fig.2) Host:Acridotheres (fuscus) grandis Moore.Location:Gall bladder and bile ducts.Date:April 4,1965.Frequency:Four specimens from one of the two hosts.Discussion:This species is characterized by the size of the acetabulum being nearly the same as the body width as well as by having the testes smaller than the ovary and having smaller eggs.3.Brachydistomum yunnanense sp.nov.(fig.3) Host:Apus affinis subfurcatus (Blyta.)Date:June 22,1965.Frequency:Six specimens from one of the four hosts.Discussion:This species is distinguished from closely related species B.olssoni (Railliet,1900) Yamaguti,1958 and B.api Fischthalet Kuntz,1974 in having a larger acetabulum,the ratio of the oral sucker and acetabulum being 1:2 and in the rectangular shape of the vitelline follicles,arranged regularly,united in the middle part of the body and giving a butterfly-wing like shape.Its name Brachydistomum yunnanense refers to its type locality.4.Platynotrema sinica sp.nov.(fig.4)Host:Ballus striatus gularis Horsfield.Location:Liver,and bile ducts.Date:June 11,1965.Frequency:Twenty-four specimens from a single host.Discussion:This species is characterized by the oval-shaped body with rounded posterior end and by having small eggs.It differs from the closely related species P.jecoris Nicoll,1914 in the body ratio being 1:2-2.3,in the densely arranged vitellaria,and the distributional pattern of the uterus.The difference of the hosts concerned is also worth notice.