# Parasitic Worm Found In Isopod



## drbio (Jul 16, 2009)

Here is a great example of why you should quarantine your wild caught isopods and breed them out for a generation or two before feeding them to your other inverts or reptiles/amphibians.  

This is a parasitic worm that was found in a Porcellio sp.  It appeared possible that the worm could infect a larger animal if it were to eat the isopod but I do not yet have taxonomic info on the species of worm and this is the first parasite of this type that I have encountered.  The only indication that the isopod had the worm was the swollen stomach which made it appear gravid.  Upon closer inspection I believe it would have been possible to distinguish between a swollen stomach from a marsupium filled with baby isopods but I did not look at the isopod under magnification and only noted the worm after it had vacated the isopod and was squirming around in the quarantine jar. 



















You can see from the last photo that the worm vacated the isopod below cepholothroax and this injury was the cause of death of the isopod. The worm was kept in the quarantine jar for observation for several days and was then euthanize.


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## skips (Jul 16, 2009)

drbio said:


> Here is a great example of why you should quarantine your wild caught isopods and breed them out for a generation or two before feeding them to your other inverts or reptiles/amphibians.
> 
> This is a parasitic worm that was found in a Porcellio sp.  It appeared possible that the worm could infect a larger animal if it were to eat the isopod but I do not yet have taxonomic info on the species of worm and this is the first parasite of this type that I have encountered.  The only indication that the isopod had the worm was the swollen stomach which made it appear gravid.  Upon closer inspection I believe it would have been possible to distinguish between a swollen stomach from a marsupium filled with baby isopods but I did not look at the isopod under magnification and only noted the worm after it had vacated the isopod and was squirming around in the quarantine jar.
> 
> ...


That worm, is it a flatworm or round worm?  Looks like a nematode.  I'm glad you posted this.  I was seriously considering using outside caught isopods in my other tanks.


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## rustym3talh3ad (Jul 16, 2009)

skips said:


> That worm, is it a flatworm or round worm?  Looks like a nematode.  I'm glad you posted this.  I was seriously considering using outside caught isopods in my other tanks.


u can but as stated breed them out for awhile and make sure u dont have parasites....that also eliminates the possibility of the isopod having like pesticides or chemicals on or in its body that could be harmful to ur T's.


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## zonbonzovi (Jul 16, 2009)

Mmmmm...looks like angel hair pasta.

Isopods are quite easy to breed.  I collected about 20 from my yard at the end of summer last year and have had countless offspring since.  Correct me if this is wrong, but they are able to breed several times a year & have a relatively long life span(6+ yrs?).


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## Galapoheros (Jul 16, 2009)

Wow that's interesting, thanks for posting it.  It'd be nice if the worm could be id'd.  It's lifecycle could have a stage that wouldn't be completed in a usual captive environment.  So it's possible others wouldn't get infected.  Like, don't horse-hair worms have an aquatic stage in their lifecycle? ...I'm not saying this is some kind of horse-hair worm, just using a poss example.  So does anybody have an idea of what kind of worm this is, besides "parasitic"


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## pavel (Jul 16, 2009)

Quite an amazingly big worm for the size of the isopod's body!  I would imagine that there couldn't have been much of anything left inside the isopod by the end.  Does look like some sort of nematode.  Very interesting!


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## skips (Jul 17, 2009)

I want to do some research later, but there is a nematode, Thaumamermis cosgrovei that is an obligate parasite of isopods.  I dont know how big it is but to my knowledge nematodes dont get that big.  If it is a nematode you'd never know what type unless you dissect it's genitals or do DNA typing.

Is it round or flat?


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## Goose (Jul 17, 2009)

skips said:


> I want to do some research later, but there is a nematode, Thaumamermis cosgrovei that is an obligate parasite of isopods.  I dont know how big it is but to my knowledge nematodes dont get that big.  If it is a nematode you'd never know what type unless you dissect it's genitals or do DNA typing.
> 
> Is it round or flat?



It's a Nematode a.k.a "Roundworm"


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## ZergFront (Jul 18, 2009)

Yeah probably roundworm, maybe even horsehair(?)


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## Craig (Jul 20, 2009)

absolutely fascinating!


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## Scythemantis (Jul 22, 2009)

I find it beautiful, especially in the second image!


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## pouchedrat (Jul 25, 2009)

Wow looks like a horsehair worm but I've only ever seen them in crickets, and spiders who've eaten said crickets.


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## jsloan (Jul 25, 2009)

I had a similar thing come out of one of my spiders the other day:

http://forum.canadianarachnology.org/viewtopic.php?t=649


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## snakebytes (Jul 25, 2009)

There is a parasite that lives in isopods that then completes its life cycle in birds. The parasite causes the isopod to seek out conspicuous places such as roads and sidewalks. This causes the isopod to be easily predated on by birds. The parasite then completes its life cycle and eggs are released by the birds through their droppings. The isopods then eat the bird poop and the cycle continues.

A study done on this parasite (sorry can't remember name) found that only a few isopods in a community had the parasite, while most birds that feed on the isopods had the parasite. This is because isopods love humidity and will almost never walk around in the open unless it is a rainy or humid day. Therefore, isopods that are found in the open probably have the parasite and should not be collected. Search for them under conver such as logs, wood and stones.

I do not know if the parasite can live in arachnids. I also do not know if the specific parasite in question is the one I am talking about, but its fun to know.


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