Art. III.—On a Parasite of the Penguin.,

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 17, 1884, Page 19

Art. III.—On a Parasite of the Penguin., By W. M. Maskell, F.R.M.S. [Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 13th February, 1885.] Plate VII., figs. 12–14 Mr. A. Reischek has collected at Dusky Sound a parasite of which the following description may be sufficient. Order. Arachnoidea. Fam. Gamasineæ. Genus Ixodes Ixodes eudyptidis, sp. nov Body almost ¼ inch in length, of a light brown colour, elliptical, somewhat convex, with a tough, leathery skin, covered with numbers of short fine hairs which are longest and most numerous on the abdominal region. Eyes absent. On the back, at the cephalic end, is a small shield exhibiting no hairs, smooth, shining, and marked with numerous minute circular shallow pits. Skin also finely striated with minute transverse wavy wrinkles. On the dorsum are two longitudinal shallow grooves, and on the under side the median portion is a broad longitudinal depression, the anal orifice placed near the extremity. Legs somewhat long and strong, seven jointed, each joint having a few spiny hairs: claw double, with a small

thick caruncle or pad. Rostrum protruded in front, thick and cylindrical, with many recurved spines and eight little tubular short processes at the tip, with a small lobe or pad. Mandibles of the length of the rostrum or a little longer, the end recurved and terminating in a sharpish point. Hab. In the gape of the penguin. This is evidently a true tick, having the characteristic rostrum and dorsal shield of the genus. I have found no species described exactly resembling it. It may be supposed that so large a parasite must be greatly inconvenient to the penguin, but its position would seen also to offer easy opportunities for getting rid of it if the bird chose to do so. Explanation of Plate VII., Figs 12–14 Fig. 12. Ixodes, dorsal view, about 4 times nat. size. Fig. 13. " foot. Fig. 14. " rostrum and mandibles.