ABSTRACT
General characteristics of the Aspidogastrea
The Aspidogastrea is a small group of platyhelminths comprising four families, 12 genera and approximately 80 species. Among the genera, Sychnocotyle from Australian freshwater turtles was described recently (Ferguson et al. 1999), a second one, Rohdella, from freshwater teleosts in Southeast Asia, 15 years ago (Gibson and Chinabut 1984), and another, Rugogaster, from the rectal glands of chimaerid fishes in the northern Pacific, 26 years ago (Schell 1973), indicating that the taxonomy of the group is unlikely to be completely known (for a recent taxonomic discussion see Rohde in press).
