Family ACOLEIDAE Fuhrmann, 1899
Introduction
This small cyclophyllidean order is characterised by cestodes that lack a vagina and vaginal pore. In acoleids, the vagina is represented by a transverse seminal receptacle and the ovary is transversely elongate (Khalil 1994). Acoleids are cosmopolitan parasites of charadriiform and ralliform birds.
The family is represented in Australia by a single species of Acoleus Fuhrmann, 1899, found in the stilt Himantopus leucocephalus Gould, 1837.
General References
Khalil, L.F. 1994. Family Acoleidae Fuhrmann, 1899. pp. 387-389 in Khalil, L.F., Jones, A. & Bray, R.A. (eds). Keys to the Cestode Parasites of Vertebrates. Wallingford, UK : Commonwealth Agriculture Bureaux International 751 pp.