The bothridial hooks of Acanthobothrium quadripartitum Williams, 1968 (Cestoda: Tetraphyllidea): Their growth and use in taxonomy

McVicar A. H. 1977. The bothridial hooks of Acanthobothrium quadripartitum Williams, 1968 (Cestoda: Tetraphyllidea): their growth and use in taxonomy. International Journal for Parasitology7: 439–442. Bothridial hooks are absent from juvenile Acanthobothrium quadripartitum in Raja naevus but develop to full size before there is much growth of the bothridia and strobila. There is a linear relationship between the lengths of the different components of the hooks during their development and it is suggested that the ratios of these lengths to the total hook length may be useful parameters in dstinguishing between species of Acanthobothrium. Principal component analysis of published hook dimensions gave good separation of most species of Acanthobothrium.