Anuran Vorticella Infestations

above photo of Vorticella: found at http://www.chbr.noaa.gov/ public/algae.html

Rana pipiens and Rana sylvatica tadpoles became infested with a fresh water protozoan Vorticella (photo above). Tadpole skin was covered in translucant white cloudy patches and the tadpoles became severely lethargic. Under the microscope the vorticella covered the skin of the tadpole in clusters greater than twenty. Some times they would be located around the vent and nostrils, causing an obstruction of the water flow.

Although repeated water changes (2X/day) diluted the infestation and eradicated before significant mortality, a precautionary test was conducted in case of emergency treatment (see table 1).

From our little experiment we can recomend a solution of 0.75-1.25% NaCl be used to treat Rana pipiens and Rana sylvatica tadpoles (of any stage) infested with Vorticella.

Table 1: Observations made a day after Rana pipiens tadpoles were treated with multiple saline solutions to treat the Vorticella infestation.

Votecella infestations have also been seen in Xenopus, however the salt solution recomended (2.5%) would be too high for the wild species used in this lab. (see http://www.xenopus.com/disease.htm )

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Last updated: April 11, 2002