Trichostrongylid in Southern Toad

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lacerta
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Trichostrongylid in Southern Toad

Post by lacerta »

As night falls, legions of toads gather under my back floodlights to feast on insects attracted to the light. In the morning, I collect the nightly deposits (dare I say "toad stools"?) for examination of intestinal parasites. This montage looks at one particularly common parasite. A fresh "toadstool" reveals mostly blastomere eggs of what I believe is a Trichostrongyle (possibly Ozwaldocruzia pipiens). Within 16 hours almost all the eggs have larvated with the worm visible and quite motile within the thin hyaline shell. By the second day, examination reveals that all eggs have hatched into the rhabitiform larva stage. The next step is to cultivate the larvae in ground charcoal (mixed with feces) for 7 days to see if I can get the infective filariform larva that will allow me to accurately key the species. There is a fascinating world inside that little moist pile!

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Charles Krebs
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Post by Charles Krebs »

Wow George... you're really getting into this ... uhhh... stuff :lol:

My family thinks I've turned into a bit of mad scientist lately, but if I started collecting "toad stools" well..... :shock: :D :shock: :roll:

Seriously though, this is a wonderful series of photographs you assembled. It's great to be able follow the cycle of this parasite's life.

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piotr
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Post by piotr »

Hi George, this is fascinating! A whole new world! :-)

You have pretty detailed pictures there. Could you post bigger versions of some of them?

Have you seen any opalinid protozoans in the sample?
Piotr

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Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

Nice composite George, interesting. Like Piotr suggested, any protozoa? :D
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