Palaearctic species of the genus Confluaria Ablasov (Cestoda,Hymenolepididae): redescriptions of C. multistriata (Rudolphi, 1810) and C. japonica (Yamaguti, 1935), and a description of Confluaria sp.

Confluaria multistriata (Rudolphi, 1810) is redescribed on the basis of specimens from Tachybaptus ruficollis from the material of Rudolphi and Dollfus and new specimens from the same host species from Bulgaria. The types of C. japonica (Yamaguti, 1935) from T. ruficollis are also redescribed and figured. A single specimen from the collection of Krabbe, described as Taenia multistriata, is re-examined and recognised as belonging to a different species of Confluaria, the status of which remains to be established. Criteria for distinguishing the three species are proposed. In view of the present results, some of the previous records of C. multistriata and C. japonica are re-evaluated. The synonymy of the genera Colymbilepis Spasskaya, 1966 and Confluaria Ablasov in Spasskaya, 1966 is confirmed.