OVERVIEW 
The Registry of Tumors in Lower Animals (RTLA) facilitates 
the study of neoplasms and related disorders in invertebrate and 
poikilothermlc vertebrate animals by serving as a specimen deposi¬ 
tory, a diagnostic center, an information center, and a research 
group. 
One hundred seventy-nine accessions (many with multiple 
specimens) from 13 countries were entered into the Registry’s 
permanent collection in 1979. As shown in Table 1, nearly one- 
half were neoplasms which occurred, in decreasing numbers, in bony 
fish, mollusks, reptiles, amphibians, sharks and one platyhelminth. 
TABLE 1 
Distribution of lesions among specimens accessioned 
Phylogenetic group 
Type of disease 
Neoplastic 
Non-neoplastic 
Total 
Reptile 
8 
6 
14 
(8%) 
Amphibian 
7 
8 
15 
(8%) 
Bony fish 
51 
51 
102 
(57%) 
Shark 
2 
1 
3 
(2%) 
Mollusk 
17 
19 
36 
(20%) 
Arthropod 
0 
3 
3 
(2%) 
Annelid 
0 
3 
3 
(2%) 
Platyhelminth 
1 
1 
2 
(1%) 
Coelenterate 
0 
1 
1 
(1%) 
Total 
86 (48%) 
93 (52%) 
179 
(100%) 
New contributions introduced neoplasia into a third invertebrate 
phylum, added or reinforced taxonomic, cell of origin and geograph¬ 
ic records and included new information on etiology. 
A dome-shaped protrusion in a parasitic fluke (RTLA 2077) from 
D. I. Gibson is the strongest candidate neoplasm yet seen in Platy- 
