REDESCRIPTION OF PROTEOCEPHALUS-MACROPHALLUS, A PARASITE OF CICHLA-OCELLARIS (PISCES, CICHLIDAE) FROM SOUTH-AMERICA

Proteocephalus macrophullus (Diesing, 1850), considered by several aut hors as species inquirenda, was recently found in Cichla ocellaris in Venezuela. This material is compared with voucher specimens from the s ame host (C. ocellaris) from Brazil, identified and redescribed as P. macrophallus by Woodland (1933). The specific status of P. macrophallu s is confirmed. This species is characterized by: 1) the shape of the body, which is wide and short, 2) the absence of a neck, 3) the distri bution of the vitelline follicles, which converge posteriorly to the o varian lobes, and 4) the structure of the uterus, which is evacuated i n the last proglottides and transformed to thick-walled diverticles ap parently separated each from other. A neotype is designated.