198 Conservation Department 



IX. FURTHER EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON THE 

 BASS TAPEWORM, PROTEOCEPHALUS AMBLOPLITIS 



(Leidy) 



By George W. Hunter, III 



Assistant Professor of Biologi/, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and 



Wanda Sanborn Hunter 



Introduction. — The study of the life history of the bass tape- 

 worm, Proteocephalus amhlopUtis (Leidy), is of interest not only 

 to scientists but also to fish culturists and sportsmen. In the Urst 

 place, the parasite affects the ''king of fish," the small-mouthed 

 black bass (Micropterus dolomieu) as well as the large-mouthed 

 black bass {Aplites salmoides) and a number of other less impor- 

 tant forms. Secondly, it does irreparable damage for the larval 

 stage (plerocercoid) is frequently passed in the reproductive organs 

 w^hich may inhibit the spaw^ning of the fish. In the third place, 

 the parasite's ability to establish itself in small ponds causes it 

 to be of particular importance in privately stocked lakes or hatch- 

 eries. Finally it may destroy the food value of the fish because 

 of the inherent distaste of eating parasitized fish even though 

 harmless. 



One might expect that a parasite capable of doing so much dam- 

 age w^ould have a long criminal record. That it has not indicates 

 that its harmful effects have only been recognized in comparatively 

 recent years. It was first described by Joseph Leidy^ in 1887 but 

 apparently the first record of its pathogenic effects is found in the 

 reports of the Division of Scientific Inquiry of the Bureau of 

 Fisheries for 1923" where its ravages are recorded, Moore^ notes 

 the effect of this tapeworm upon the reproductive organs in a 

 report before the American Fisheries Society and the next year 

 again calls attention to this tapeworm.* Bangham (1927) in a 

 mimeographed report tells of the harm done by this parasite in 

 the Ohio hatcheries and again mentions this briefly in two papers 

 appearing the subsequent year.^-^ The senior author^ ran a series 

 of experiments for the TT. S. Bureau of Fisheries during the sum- 

 mer of 1927 in which it was shown how" the life cycle might be com- 



^ Leidy, J. Notice of some parasitic worms. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 39:20-. 

 24:8 figs. 1887. 



' Rich, W. H. Progress in biological inquiries, 1923. Rep. Div. Sci. Inq. Fiscl. 

 Yr. 1923, Bur. Fish. Doc. No. 956. 1924. 



' Moore, Emmeline. Further Observations on the Bass Flat-worm (Proteocephalus 

 amhlopUtis). Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc, 1925:91-94. 1926. 



* Moore, Emmeline. Problems in fresh water fisheries. N. Y. Conserv. Comm., 

 15th Ann. Rep., 1925, 22 pp. 1926. 



^ Bangham, R. V. Diseases of fish in Ohio hatcheries. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc, 

 1927, 4 pp. 1928. 



* Bangham, R. V. Life history of bass cestode Proteocephalus ambloplitis. Trans. 

 Amer. Fish. Soc, 1927, 3 pp. 1928a. 



' Hunter, G. W,, IIL Contributions to the life history of Proteocephalus ambloplitis 

 fLeidy). Jour. Parasit., 14:229-243, 1 pi. 1928. 



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