INTESTINAL CILIATES FOUND IN THE FECES OF JAPANESE NATIVE TOKARA PONY, WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEW GENUS AND A NEW SPECIES

The composition of intestinal ciliates excreted in the feces of 20 Tok ara native ponies kept in Iriki farm of Kagoshima University was surve yed. Eleven genera consisting of 18 species were identified based on t he description of Strelkow. One new genus including a new species, Wol skana tokarensis n. gen., n. sp., of the family Buetschliidae was reco gnized and described. The average ciliate density of all horses was 13 .8 x 10(3)/ml. Those of stallions (n=5) mares (n=11) and foals (n=4) w ere 3.9, 16.1 and 43.3 x 10(3)/ml respectively. The value of stallions was significantly lower and that of foals higher than that of mares. Brillouin's diversity index of all horses was 1.554 on average. The in dex of stallions, 1.470, was significantly lower than those of mares, 1.539, and foals, 1.698. The average number of species per host was 11 .7.