A New Species of the Acanthocephalan Genus \u3ci\u3eArhythmorhynchus\u3c/i\u3e from Sandpipers of Alaska

In the spring of 1949, a survey of the parasites of birds of Alaska, especially in the vicinity of Juneau, was conducted by Robert L. Rausch and Ralph B. Williams. Among the Acanthocephala encountered there were specimens of the genus Arhythmorhynchus in two species of sandpipers, Erolia ptilocnemis couesi (Ridgway) (the Aleutian sandpiper) and Erolia alpina pacifica (Vieillot) (the red-backed sandpiper). This parasite was present in such numbers as to make morphological and taxonomic study profitable. The species is clearly distinct from all other members of the genus and is here described as Arhythmorhynchus comptus n. sp