TWO NEW SPECIES OF HYMENOLEPIS (CESTODA: HYMENOLEPIDIDAE) FROM MURID RODENTS (RODENTIA: MURIDAE) IN THE PHILIPPINES.

Two previously unrecognized species of the genus Hymenolepis are described based on specimens obtained from murid rodent species Bullimus luzonicus, Apomys microdon, and Rattus everetti collected on Luzon Island, Philippines. Hymenolepis bicauda n. sp. differs from all known Hymenolepis spp. in relative position of the poral dorsal and ventral osmoregulatory canals, gravid uterus occupying less than half the length of proglottid, relatively few eggs, and the highly characteristic longitudinal split of proglottids at the end of the gravid strobila. Hymenolepis haukisalmii n. sp. differs from all known Hymenolepis spp. in the relative position of both poral and aporal dorsal and ventral osmoregulatory canals and uterus lacking dorsal and ventral diverticula. The shift in the relative position of the dorsal and ventral osmoregulatory canals was not known in Hymenolepis from rodents in other regions of the world and is reminiscent of the situation observed in Hymenolepis erinacei, parasitic in hedgehogs, and members of the genus Talpolepis, parasitic in moles. The cosmopolitan species Hymenolepis diminuta was the only member of the genus previously reported from the Philippines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]