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A Contribution to the Study of Fijian Haematozoa With Descriptions of a New Species from Each of the Genera Haemogregarina and Microfilaria

Material and Methods

Material and Methods

Peripheral-blood smears from domestic animals were obtained during visits to farms in the vicinity of Suva, in company with veterinary inspectors of the Fijian Department of Agriculture. Wild birds and mammals were secured by trapping and shooting, and some reptilian material was collected by local people in response to newspaper and radio advertisements. Some fish-blood smears were taken from specimens brought to the municipal markets at Suva, and others were secured by purchasing portions of the catch of Fijian and Indian fishermen at Lauthala Bay and Nandi. The great majority of the fish studied were collected at Makuluva Island, a few miles' launch trip from Lauthala Bay R.N.Z.A.F. Station, by poisoning coral pools with rotenone (5 per cent.).

Thin blood smears were made in the field, from the heart where possible, and air-dried on collection. On being brought back to the laboratory at Lauthala Bay, these were fixed in absolute methyl alcohol and stained with Giemsa. All the slides were left uncovered, and were searched for parasites on my return to New Zealand. The figures were drawn with the aid of an Abbé camera lucida at a magnification of 2,400.