Family POLYPOCEPHALIDAE Meggit, 1924
Introduction
This striking family with a single genus, Polypocephalus Braun, 1878, is immediately recognisable from the scolex which has four suckers and a variable number of retractile tentacles emerging from the apex. When everted, the scolex resembles a cnidarian polyp, hence both the generic and family names.
The genus is represented by a number of species in Australia, but only one has been formally described (Butler 1987). Additional ultrastructural features of metacestodes are reported by Brockerhoff & Jones (1995).
General References
Brockerhoff, A. & Jones, M.K. 1995. Ultrastructure of the scolex and tentacles of the metacestode of Polypocephalus species (Lecanicephalidae) from the blue-swimmer crab Portunus pelagicus. International Journal for Parasitology 25: 1077-1088
Butler, S.A. 1987. Taxonomy of some tetraphyllidean cestodes from elasmobranch fishes. Australian Journal of Zoology 35: 343-371