\u3ci\u3eEchinococcus vogeli\u3c/i\u3e Rausch and Bernstein, 1972, from the paca, \u3ci\u3eCuniculus paca\u3c/i\u3e L. (Rodentia: Dayproctidae), in the Departamento de Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Among approximately 2,000 mammals examined for helminths in various regions of Bolivia during 1983-1987, cysts of Echinococcus vogeli Rausch and Bernstein, 1972, were found in a single paca, Cuniculus paca L., collected at La Laguna, Departamento de Santa Cruz (lat. 16 [degrees] 36\u27 W; long. 62 [degrees] 42\u27 S). This record, the first from Bolivia, represents a considerable extension of the known geographic range of this species in South America. Upon analysis of the morphologic characteristics of the protoscoleces derived from the cysts, the sizes of rostellar hooks from the material from the paca were found to be well within the ranges reported in previous studies. Statistical analysis of frequency distributions of hook characteristics revealed some deviations from normality. These results indicate that parametric statistics should be applied with caution in analyses of inter- and intraspecific variation of morphologic characteristics of hooks of metacestodes of the genus Echinococcus