Pseudoacanthocephalus, Petrochenko, 1956

Revised key to the species of the genus Pseudoacanthocephalus View in CoL

1. Proboscis oval, with 20–22 longitudinal hook rows and 10–12 hooks in each longitudinal row................... .............................................................................. P. rauschi View in CoL

- Proboscis cylindrical ....................................................... 2

2. Proboscis distinctly elongated (0.86 mm), with 13–15 hooks in each longitudinal row ................ P. elongatus View in CoL

- Proboscis not elongated, with less than 13 hooks in each longitudinal row ..................................................... 3

3. Proboscis with 8–12 longitudinal hook rows............... ...................................................................... P. xenopeltidis View in CoL

- Proboscis with 12–22 longitudinal hook rows............ 4

4. Parasitic in chameleons and snakes............................. 5

- Parasitic in amphibians................................................... 6

5. Trunk of female 10.0–20.0 mm long, proboscis with 3 hooks each longitudinal row in male.......................... ............................................................ P. rhampholeonotos

- Trunk of female 7.50 mm long, proboscis with 4 hooks each longitudinal row in male .......................... ............................................................................ P. bigueti View in CoL

6. Eggs with polar prolongations ...................................... 7

- Eggs without polar prolongations ................................ 8

7. Proboscis with 14 longitudinal hook rows.................... ............................................................................... P. lucidus

- Proboscis with 14–16 longitudinal hook rows............. ............................................................................ P. toshimai

8. Testes pre-equatorial....................................................... 9

- Testes equatorial or post-equatorial......................... 10

9. Proboscis with 12–13 longitudinal hook rows............. ........................................................................... P. smalesae

- Proboscis with 16–18 longitudinal hook rows............. .................................................... P. previatesticulus sp. n.

10. Trunk of female narrowed in middle region and distinctly widened towards posterior end ................. P. nickoli View in CoL

- Trunk of female not narrowed in middle region and not widened towards posterior end.......................... 11

11. Proboscis hooks increase progressively in length from apical to basal position ...................................... 12

- Proboscis hooks in middle region longer than that in apical and basal position ............................................. 13

12. Proboscis with 12–15 longitudinal hook rows.... P. reesei View in CoL

- Proboscis with 16–18 longitudinal hook rows............. .................................................................. P. nguyenthileae View in CoL

13. Male with eight cement glands.................................. 14

- Male with six cement glands...................................... 15

14. Proboscis with 13 longitudinal hook rows.................... ......................................................................... P. coniformis View in CoL

- Proboscis with 18–20 longitudinal hook rows............. .......................................................... P. sichuanensis sp. n.

15. Trunk of male only 2.60–3.20 mm long ........................ ......................................................................... P. perthensis

- Trunk of male over 3.50 mm long............................. 16

16. Lemnisci shorter or equal in length with proboscis receptacle........................................................................ 17

- Lemnisci longer than proboscis receptacle ............ 18

17. Trunk of female about 7.0 mm long, proboscis 0.47 × 0.30 mm in size..................................... P. betsileo

- Trunk of female 11.0– 13.1 mm long, proboscis 0.50–0.55 × 0.37–0.43 mm in size ........... P. caucasicus

18. Cement glands pyriform ............................................. 19

- Cement glands long, tubular or filiform .................. 21

19. Proboscis with 18–19 longitudinal hook rows, trunk of male 10.7–15.1 mm long ............................... P. caspanensis View in CoL

- Proboscis with 14–18 longitudinal hook rows, trunk of male 4.00– 9.75 mm long ........................................ 20

20. Proboscis usually with 15–16 longitudinal hook rows, distributed in South America ................... P. lutzi View in CoL

- Proboscis with 14 longitudinal hook rows, distributed in India............................................. P. shillongensis

21. Trunk of female only 6.50–10.7 mm long, proboscis with 6–7 hooks each longitudinal row ......................... ...................................................................... P. bufonincola

- Trunk of female 14.0–28.0 mm long, proboscis with 4–6 hooks each longitudinal row ............................. 22

22. Proboscis usually with 14 longitudinal hook rows...... ........................................................................... P. goodmani

- Proboscis usually with 16 longitudinal hook rows...... ............................................................................... P. bufonis View in CoL