Successful Transplantation of a Frog Bladder-fluke from One Host Species to Another

Abstract

GOODCHILD¹ described experiments in which adult bladder-flukes, Gorgodera amplicava and Gorgoderina attenuata, were successfully transplanted from one species of Rana to another. Healthy transplanted flukes were capable of attaching themselves to the bladder of their new host, and they survived for periods of up to 3 weeks, which was as long as the experiment lasted. Furthermore, Goodchild² successfully transplanted individuals of the same two species into the bladders of painted turtles, Chrysemys picta, and newts, Triturus viridescens; these parasites survived in their new habitats for periods of up to a week. In contrast to these results, Goodchild found that the same adult trematodes were incapable of survival when transplanted into the rectum or into the abdominal coelom of Rana pipiens. The flukes in the rectum were unable to grip the mucosa and were soon eliminated with the faeces. Those in the abdominal coelom were encapsulated by host cells and died within 24–72 h.