Taenia multiceps larva from a gemsbok

Abstract

Round (1968) records polycephalic cestode larvae (Coenurus) from various African mammals in Zoological gardens, viz. Alcelaphus sp., Capra ibex Linnaeus, 1758, Hippotragus equinus (Desmarest, 1804), Sylvicapragrimmia (Linnaeus, 1758). In the last eight years, however, similar larvae have been recovered from four free-living gemsbok, Oryx gazella (Linnaeus, 1758), in South West Africa (Verster, unpublished data). Because polycephalic larvae from intramuscular and subcutaneous tissues of ruminants have been assigned to either Taenia multiceps Leske, 1780 or to Taenia gaigeri (Hall, 1916), an available larva from one of these gemsbok was fed to a domestic dog to establish the identity of the resulting adult.