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THE EPIZOOTIOLOGY OF MACRACANTHORHYNCHUS INGENS
Abstract
A previously unidentified cystacanth from woodroaches, Parcoblatta pennsylvanica, and various colubrid and viperid snakes in Louisiana had been identified as Macracanthorhynchus ingens. Results of concurrent feeding experiments in which eggs of several species of oligacanthorhynchid acanthocephalans known from Louisiana were fed to woodroaches and in which cystacanths from naturally infected snakes were fed to raccoons, Proycon lotor, verified the identification. The epizootiology of Macracanthorhynchus ingens in Louisiana was studied by various feeding experiments devised to illustrate development and possible transmission pathways. The woodroach was documented as the only known naturally occurring first intermediate host. Laboratory-reared cystacanths of M. ingens were fed to an owl, pigs, raccoons, and snakes. Lasting infections were achieved only in raccoons and snakes. Studies with the other animals indicated that while they may serve as accidental hosts, they play no important role in the life cycle of the parasite. Cystacanths of Macracanthorhynchus ingens were capable of establishing viscerally in snakes or developing to adulthood in a raccoon intestine. Those from snakes were capable of subsequently maturing in the gut of raccoons. Possible transmission pathways have been established from woodroach to raccoon and from woodroach to snake to raccoon. Investigation of feeding habits and habitat preference of animals involved lend credibility to the proposed pathways. Attempts to discover a means of identifying cystacanths without resorting to feeding experiments revealed that twenty percent solution of hydrogen peroxide altered proboscis musculature without altering hooks. This permitted more accurate measurement of hooks than had been possible previously. Dimensions of Macracanthorhynchus ingens hooks were substantially different from those previously reported. Hooks of M. ingens differed from those of M. hirudinaceus in both size and morphology. The new technique will make specific identification of cystacanths of the family Oligacanthorhynchidae possible without requiring that they be reared to maturity.
Subject Area
Zoology
Recommended Citation
ELKINS, CLARENCE ALAN, "THE EPIZOOTIOLOGY OF MACRACANTHORHYNCHUS INGENS" (1981). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8120159.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8120159