AN ACCOUNT OF TWO SPECIES OF LUNGWORMS FROM INDIAN
GOATS*
By M. M. SARWAR, Department of Food, Government of India, New Delhi
(Received for publication on 15 December 1944)
(With three text-figures)
T HE generic differentiation of species in the family Metastrongylidae is to a large extent based
on the shape and arrangement of accessory pieces. These organs are elaborate and present
varied features and this has resulted in a considerable confusion in adoption of proper terminology
for these structures. Looss [1905] applies the term gubernaculum to a structure defined as 'thick
brown chitinuous piece . . . . found embedded in the dorsal wall'. He thinks its function to lie in
changing within certain limits the direction of the spicula when they are protruded. Hall [1921]
uses the word gubernaculum for the more or less longitudinal structure in the dorsal wall of the
cloaca towards the anterior end and the term telamon for the 'structure of variable form near the
cloacal aperture'. Cameron [1927] applies the term telamon to the longitudinal paired accessory
pieces and gubernaculum for the anteriorly placed unpaired ones. Gebauer [1932] uses
the term in just the reverse order. Schulz, Orlow and Kutass [1933] call the whole arrangement
as gubernaculum and designate the three parts as capitulum, corpus and crura. They apply the
term telamon to a structure of variable form near the clcacal aperture. Such a structure has been
pointed out in Varestrongylus pneumonicus by Bhalerao [1932], in Pneumostrongylus calcaratus by
Monnig [1933] as a refractive piece of chitin which moves with the telamon gubernaculum of
Gebauer [1932]. In Pneumostrognylus alpenae Dikmans [1935] refers to the above structure as an
unpaired accessory piece consisting of two proximally united deeply pigmented portions situated in
the terminal portion of the body.
The arrangement of the accessory pieces suggests that capitulum, corpus and crura are intimately
connected in function and modified accordingly in different species. In the species of the genus Pro-
tostronglus there is a capitulum and two pairs of corpus and crura arising separately. In Protos-
trongylus austriacus [Gebauer, 1932] the crura are fused at their anterior ends, in V. pneumonicus
the corpus and crura are fused at their anterior and posterior ends respectively and capitulum has
disappeared. In Dictyocaulus filaria (Fig I, a) the crura are fused and the corpus appear to de-
generate while capitulum has disappeared. In the family Trichostrngylidae the appearance of
gubernaculum suggests it to be the result of a more intimate adhesion of the crura. The capitulum
and corpus, which are probably supporting structures to the crura when paired, disappear when the
crura have fused as in the genera Varestrongylus, Neostrongylus and Pneumostrongylus.
In the following lines have been described two species, one under the genus Varestrongylus and
the other under Protostrongylus. The protostrongylus species was collected from a goat once only
while the Varestrongylus species was twice collected mixed with V. pneumonicus, the latter species
predominating.
Varestrongylus capricola SARWAR 1944
The specimens which consist of three males and a number of females were collected from small
bronchi of a goat at Mukteswar.
Male has a total length from 15 to 18 mm. and a width of about 0.14 mm. at about the anterior
ends of the spicules. Oesophagus is 0.275 mm. long and 0.05 mm. broad and is lanceolate in shape.
The bursa (Fig I, b) consists of two lateral and a dorsal lobe and the rays are disposed as fol-
lows:
*The paper was read before the 31st session of the Indian Science Congress held at Delhi in 1944.
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