REPORT ON A SURVEY OF PARASITIC NEMATODES IN BIRDS FROM WEISHAN LAKE, SHANDONG PROVINCE, CHINA

The material for the present study was collected from Weishan Lake, ShandongProvince, in 1975. After an examination of 135 birds, 91 birds (67.4%) were foundto be infected by 11 species of nematodes belonging to 5 families and 8 genera (seetabes in the Chinese text). Among the 11 species of worms,one is found to be new toscience and described as follows:Epomidiostomus varispiculum, sp. nov. (fig. 1-5)Host: Aythya marila Linnaeus.Location: Gizzard.Locality: Weishan Lake, Shandong Province.Types: Holotype, Allotype, Paratypes 2 2, all deposited in the Instituteof Zoology, Academia Sinica.Diagnosis: Body filiform. Mouth surrounded by six round headpapillae: foursubmedian and two latera1 in position.Male: Body 7.90--8.30mm in length, 0.20--0.22 mm in width. Oesophagus 0.98--1.03×0.070--0.073mm, nerve ring situated at a distanee of 0.153--0.235 mm from theanterior end. Spicules unequal, measuring 0.103-0.107 mm and 0.120--0.125mm re-spectively, each being divided into two branches at a distance of 0.037--0.042mm fromthe proximal end.Female: Body 11.14--12.70 mm in length, 0.24--0.26mm in width. Oesophngus 0.97--1.18×0.065--0.080mm, nerve ring situated at a distance of 0.19--0.25 mm from the an-terior end. Vulva slit-shaped, 2.15--2.95mm from the end; anus 0.10--0.15mm fromthe end. Body tapering abruptly behind the anus and bending ventrally. Ova inuterus 0.062--0.073×0.042--0.052 mm.The new species closely resembles E. asymmetricum and E. sarkidiorni, but differsfrom the latter two species in having the two spicules being unequal instead of subequalin length (measuring 0.103--0.107 mm and 0.120--0.125 mm respectively as against0.094--0.110 mm and 0.105--0.121 mm) and dissimilar instead of similar in structure(the short spicule being wider proximally than the longer one and with a button-likestructure).