The Acanthocephalan Genus Mediorhynchus, Its History and a Review of the Species Occurring in the United States

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Abstract
History of the concept and of the name Mediorhynchus is traced. Meyer''s attempt to differentiate the concept of Heteroplus, under the unavailable name Empodius, from Mediorhynchus is futile. Heteroplus, Empodius, Micracanthorhynchus, and Leiperacanthus are all direct synonyms of Mediorhynchus. The mistaken interpretation of a portion of the specialized musculature for retraction of the neck as belonging to the proboscis receptacle led Southwell and Macfie (1925) to regard the receptacle of "Empodius" as double walled and therefore different from Mediorhynchus. Bhalerao (1937) made the same error for Leiperacanthus. The family is a direct synonym of Gigan-torhynchidae. Geographical distribution and host relations of members of Mediorhynchus in N. America are discussed. There is no record of any sp. of this genus west of Nebraska, Kansas and Texas. There is no evidence of spp. common to the United States and either Central or South America. A tabular key to the 3 spp. from the United States is given. M. grandis*, M. papillosus* and M. robustus* are redescr. and errors in original descr. are corrected. In small host individuals single specimens of M. robustus are often encountered. Lack of reservoir hosts, feeding habits of insect hosts, some mechanism for resistance or immunity, and possible shorter life span for d" d" are presented as possible factors in maintaining low incidence of individual host infections Sexual dimorphism in M. robustus involves pronounced differences in size of the proboscis and its hooks.

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