Table 1.
Comparison of merocercoids from fur seals of the present study and from literature with the two common morphotypes of cetaceans (striped dolphins, sample I, Agusti et al., 2005a,b).
| Feature [mm] | Merocercoid |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present study protruded invaginated | Mendonca 1984 | Southwell 1936 | ‘Phyllobothrium delphini' | ‘Monorygma grimaldii' | |||
 |
host | fur seal | striped dolphin | ||||
| Location in hosts | blubber | blubber | mesentery | ||||
| Bladder length (BLL) | 35.00 | 37.50 | 16.7 | 15.00 | 10.30 | 13.70 | |
| width (BLW) | 7.00 | 7.50 | 5.9 | 8.00 | 5.90 | 7.70 | |
| Filament length (FL) | 18.20 | 13.60 | 8.8 | 13.00 | 7.40 | 151.80 | |
| width (FW) | 2.45 | 1.50 | 1.78 | 3.00 | 1.63 | 0.27 | |
| BLL/FL | 1.92 | 2.76 | 1.87 | 1.15 | 1.39 | 0.09 | |
| Bothridium length | 1.50 | n.d. | 0.88 | 1.57 | 1.47 | 0.47 | |
| Bothridial sucker [μm] | 400 × 500 | 350 × 400 | 442 | 275 | 274 × 288 | 148 × 172 | |
| Bothridial margin | loculated | loculated | smooth | ||||
The most dicriminative features between the two merocercoid morpho-types (delphini, grimaldii) are highlighted in bold.