Subclass Aspidogastrea Faust & Tang, 1936

The class Aspidocotylea was established by Monticelli (1892a), replacing Aspidobothrii Burmeister, 1856 and Aspidobothria Monticelli, 1888. Faust & Tang (1936) introduced the name Aspidogastrea: this name is preferred here and in most recent works, on the basis of usage. Dollfus (1958) reviewed the Aspidogastrea as a subclass of the Trematoda, including redescriptions of some representative species. Yamaguti (1963) gave generic diagnoses and lists of species. Gibson & Chinabut (1984) distinguished two orders in the subclass Aspidogastrea, the Aspidogastrida with the single family Aspidogastridae and the subfamilies Aspidogastrinae, Cotylaspidinae and Rohdellinae, and the Stichocotylida with the families Stichocotylidae, Multicalycidae and Rugogastridae. Recent reviews of the group, including information on new taxa, host-specificity, geographical variation, life-cycles and phylogeny, were given by Rohde (1972, 1994). Relevant references can be found in these papers.