Bothriocephalus claviceps ( Goeze, 1782 ) Rudolphi, 1810

Kuchta, Roman, Burianová, Alena, Jirkú, Miloslav, Chambrier, Alain, Oros, Mikuláš, Brabec, Jan & Scholz, Tomáš, 2012, Bothriocephalidean tapeworms (Cestoda) of freshwater fish in Africa, including erection of Kirstenella n. gen. and description of Tetracampos martinae n. sp., Zootaxa 3309, pp. 1-35 : 24

Bothriocephalus claviceps ( Goeze, 1782) Rudolphi, 1810

Type locality: Unknown (? Germany).

Distribution in Africa: Nile basin – Egypt.

Type material: Not known to exist.

Material studied: Bothriocephalus claviceps ex Anguilla sp. from Egypt ( BMNH 1932.5.31.780–780).

References: Meggitt (1930); Tadros (1967).

Remarks: Meggitt (1930) identified immature fragments of tapeworms from unidentified eels [most probably Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus) , the only eel occurring in the region], allegedly found by A. Looss in Egypt, as B. claviceps . Examination of the vouchers confirmed this identification. Bothriocephalus claviceps is a specific parasite of eels in the Holarctic Region ( Scholz et al. 2004) and its occurrence in Africa represents the southernmost range of its distribution area, apparently related to occasional migration of eels to the rivers in North Africa including the lower Nile. Based on the distribution of A. anguilla , it is possible that future studies will reveal the presence of B. claviceps also in Maghreb ichthyofaunistic province, which has Palaearctic affinities and includes Morocco, northern Algeria and Tunisia 1. Since the distribution of this Holarctic tapeworm in Africa is restricted to lower Nile and possibly Maghreb province, it is not included into the key below.