The Genus Dispharynx (Nematoda: Acuariidae) in Galliform and Passeriform Birds

Abstract

Commonly listed as a parasite of poultry (M6nnig, 1938; Barger and Card, 1938; Wehr, 1943) is the proventricular worm Dispharynx spiralis (Molin, 1858) Skrjabin, 1916. Parasitological examinations of poultry in North America, however, have shown that its presence in domestic birds in this part of the world is rare. Autopsies of certain wild gallinaceous birds, on the other hand, have revealed relatively high incidence of the parasite. Its demonstrated presence in several species of perching birds and a comparative study of the form from several different hosts has pointed to the possibility that most of the specimens of Dispharynx from galliform and passeriform birds in both hemispheres belong to the same species. It is the purpose of this article to record observations on the proventricular worms of this genus which we have encountered and to discuss the probable identity of the forms reported from the above mentioned birds.