A new species of cestode, Vampirolepis muraiae n. sp. (Cyclophyllidea: Hymenolepididae), from a Chinese bat.

Vampirolepis muraiae n. sp. (Cestoda: Cyclophyllidea: Hymenolepididae) is described on the basis of a single specimen from a mouse-eared bat, Myotis sp., from Yunnan Province, China. It is distinguished from its congeners on the basis of the size and shape of the rostellar hooks, which have a blade shorter than the guard, the tubular structure of the initial stage of the developing uterus and eggs with a thick outer coat.

A redescription of Arostrilepis horrida (Linstow, 1901) and descriptions of two new species from Palaearctic microtine rodents, Arostrilepis macrocirrosa sp. n. and A. tenuicirrosa sp. n. (Cestoda: Hymenolepididae).

Abstract: The type species of the cestode genus Arostrilepis Mas-Coma et Tenora, 1997, Arostrilepis horrida (Linstow, 1901), is redescribed on the basis of the syntype material from the brown rat.(Rattus norvegicus) deposited in the collection of the Museum fir Naturkunde, Berlin. Arostrilepis horrida (sensu lato), reported from a wide range of rodents throughout the Holarctic Region, is shown to be a species complex. The proposed host range and geographical distribution ofA. horrida (sensu stricto) are limited to the data reported in the original description. The previously proposed synonymy ofA. horrida is examined and the following species are excluded from the list of its synonyms: Hymenolepisprocera Janicki, 1904, H. arvicolina Cholodkowsky, 1913, H. sciurina Cholodkowsky, 1913 and H. mathevossianae Akhumyan, 1946; these are considered species inquirendae. Specimens previously identified as A. horrida from voles from the Asian part of Russia are revised and newly collected materials are worked out. Two new species, A. macrocirrosa sp. n. and A. tenuicirrosa sp. n., are described. The main differentiating characters used to distinguish Arostrilepis spp. are the form and size of cirrus and its armature as well as the type of arrangement for the testes. The new species can also be distinguished from one another on the basis of sequences of the ITS2 rRNA gene. The generic diagnosis of Arostrilepis is emended. Hymenolepis neurotrichi Rausch, 1962, which had been placed in Arostrilepis by Mas-Coma and Tenora (1997), does not correspond to the generic diagnosis and is considered a species incertae sedis.

Neoskrjabinolepis nuda n. sp. from shrews on Sakhalin Island, Russia, with a taxonomic review of Neoskrjabinolepis Spasskii, 1947 (Cestoda: Cyclophyllidea: Hymenolepididae).

Neoskrjabinolepis (Neoskrjabinolepidoides) nuda n. sp. is described from the shrews Sorex unguiculatus (type-host), S. gracillimus, S. isodon and S. caecutiens on Sakhalin Island, Russia. The new species is characterised by: rostellar hooks 40-44 microm long and provided with small epiphyseal thickening of the handle; a long (95-100 microm) cirrus consisting of basal region with claw-shaped spines, a parabasal region with thin needle-shaped spines and an unarmed distal region; a cirrus-sac extending well into the median field; and 15-22 eggs per gravid uterus. A review of the species of Neoskrjabinolepis Spasskii, 1947 is presented. Currently, this genus includes nine species and is divided in two subgenera on the basis of strobilar development, which is gradual in the subgenus Neoskrjabinolepis (four species) and serial in the subgenus Neoskrjabinolepidoides Kornienko, Gulyaev & Mel'nikova, 2006 (five species). An amended generic diagnosis and an identification key to Neoskrjabinolepis spp. are presented.

Taxonomic revision of the cestodes of the family Progynotaeniidae (Cyclophyllidea) parasitising stone curlews (Charadriiformes: Burhinidae).

The type series of Progynotaenia evaginata Fuhrmann, 1909 from Burhinus senegalensis in Sudan, P. foetida Meggitt, 1928 from B. oedicnemus in Egypt and Angularia australis Maplestone, 1921 from B. grallarius in Australia are redescribed. As a comparative material, specimens of P. evaginata from B. oedicnemus in Kazakhstan were studied. The type-series of P. evaginata and P. foetida were found to be heterogeneous due to the presence of scoleces and fragments of cestodes of the genus Stenovaria Spasskii & Borgarenko, 1973 (Dilepididae). For P. foetida, a lectotype is designated. P. foetida is recognised as a synonym of P. evaginata (new synonymy). Angularia australis, previously considered a member of the Dilepididae, is transferred to the Progynotaeniidae as a synonym of P. evaginata (new synonymy). The synonymy of P. indica Johri, 1963 with P. evaginata, proposed by Ryzhikov & Tolkacheva (1981), is supported. The host range and the geographical distribution of P. evaginata are restricted to birds of the genus Burhinus from the Eastern Hemisphere.

New data on the morphology of species of Leptotaenia Cohn, 1901 (Cestoda: Progynotaeniidae).

Leptotaenia ischnorhyncha (Lühe, 1898) is redescribed on the basis of a specimen from Phoenicopterus ruber in Cuba. In contrast to previous descriptions, the presence of two rows of rostellar hooks, a secondary female copulatory organ and four types of cirrus spines are observed. Leptotaenia sp. from P. minor from Kenya, identified as L. ischnorhyncha and figured by Khalil (1994), is described on the basis of poorly preserved specimens. The synonymy of L. skrjabini Shakhtakhtinskaya, 1953 from P. ruber in Azerbaijan with L. ischnorhyncha, proposed by Ryzhikov & Tolkacheva (1981), is questioned and the former is regarded as a species inquirenda. The diagnosis of Leptotaenia Cohn, 1901 is amended.