Family SPHYRIOCEPHALIDAE Dollfus, 1930

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Introduction

The family Sphyriocephalidae is characterised by the possession of paired bothridia embedded in the scolex and tentacles bearing an homeoacanthous armature (Campbell & Beveridge 1994). Adults occur in the spiral intestines of sharks, particularly those of the family Alopiidae, with the larval or plerocercus stage occurring in the body cavities of teleosts. The family is currently represented in Australia by a single collection of plerocerci (Beveridge & Campbell 1996). The definitive hosts in the Australian region remain to be determined.

Palm (2004) treated the family Hepatoxylidae as a synonym of Sphyriocephalidae. The former family Hepatoxylidae contains a single genus Hepatoxylon, characterised by a large muscular scolex with pairs of bothria deeply embedded within it and surrounded by a thickened rim. The tentacular armature is homeoacanthous and homeomorphous. The genital organs are paired (Campbell & Beveridge 1994).

Both of the known species belonging to this genus have been found in Australian waters as parasites of the white pointer, Carcharadon carcharias (Beveridge & Campbell 1996). The larval stages (post-larvae) occur in a variety of teleost species as well as in small sharks (Beveridge & Campbell 1996). The post-larvae are frequently attached to the liver of their hosts, a site from which the generic name of the parasite is derived.

General References

Beveridge, I. & Campbell, R.A. 1996. New records and descriptions of trypanorhynch cestodes from Australian fishes. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 29: 1-22

Campbell, R.A. & Beveridge, I. 1994. Order Trypanorhyncha Diesing, 1863. pp. 51-148 in Khalil, L.F., Jones, A. & Bray, R.A. (eds). Keys to the Cestode Parasites of Vertebrates. Wallingford, UK : Commonwealth Agriculture Bureaux International 751 pp.

Dallares, S., Carrasson, M. & Schaeffner, B.C. 2017. Revision of the family Sphyriocephalidae Pintner, 1913 (Cestoda: Trypanorhyncha), with the description of Heterosphyriocephalus encarnae n. sp and redescriptions of two species of Sphyriocephalus. Parasitology International 66(1): 843-862

Palm, H.W. 2004. The Trypanorhyncha Diesing, 1863. Bogor : PKSPL-IBP Press 710 pp.

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