Experimental Elucidation of the Life Cycle of Rhinebothrium urobatidium (Cestoda: Rhinebothriidea) From the Round Stingray (Urobatis halleri: Myliobatiformes) To First And Second Intermediate Hosts

Abstract

Abstract - The life cycle of the cestode Rhinebothrium urobatidium, whose final host is the round stingray Urobatishalleri, includes a copepod as the first intermediate host and small benthic fishes as second intermediate hosts. Hexacanth embryos within nonoperculate, untanned eggs collected from U. hallerideveloped in the copepod Tigriopus californicusinto caudate procercoids with an apical organ/sucker and cercomer, and rarely, bothridia. The procercoids, which developed in the body cavity within a membrane, adhered to the copepod intestine, were infective to arrow gobies (Clevelandia ios) within 15 days of exposure at 21°C. When infected copepods were fed to arrow gobies, procercoids developed into nonlacunate plerocercoids each bearing individually retractable bothridia and an apical sucker. Within 10 days of exposure to the second intermediate host, the larvae had migrated up the bile/cystic duct into the gall bladder, where they developed bothridia similar to those of adult worms. Between 30 to 51 days post-infection in the goby, plerocercoids approached the size of larvae found in natural infections, and the scolex became morphologically similar to that of adult worms from round stingrays. Only presumptive filiform microtriches (filitriches) were present on procercoids while both filitrichs and spiniform microtriches (spinitrichs) were present on plerocercoids. Identification of plerocercoids from experimental infections as those of R. urobatidiumwas confirmed through morphology of the scolex and using cytochrome c oxidase I sequences. The experimental transmission of R. urobatidiumto first and second intermediate hosts provides improved understanding of the transmission and ontogeny of shark tapeworms. The biological characteristics of U. halleri,with its diverse parasite fauna, provide significant opportunities to examine the biology of an array of elasmobranch tapeworm taxa.