LIFE HISTORY STUDIES ON TAENIA MUSTELAE GMELIN, 1790 AND THE TAXONOMY OF CERTAIN TAENIOID CESTODES FROM MUSTELIDAE

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Author: Freeman, Reino S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1956
• Subjects: Martes americana
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z56-037; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z56-037

Taenia mustelae Gmelin, 1790 (= T. tenuicollis Rudolphi, 1819) is proposed as the valid name for the small-hooked cestode from European brown weasel, and Taenia martis (Zeder, 1803) n. comb. (= T. intermedia Rudolphi, 1810) is proposed for the large-hooked cestode from European marten. T. mustelae adults were found naturally in the short-tailed weasel, Mustela erminea, and T. martis adults in the pine marten, Martes americana in North America; the latter constitutes a new host record. Larvae were recovered from 10 species of rodents of which Citellus franklinii, Eutamias minimus, Marmota monax, Tamias striatus, Synaptomys cooperi, and Zapus hudsonius are new host records. Experimental infections produced by feeding T. mustelae eggs were followed in eight species of rodents. In one animal mature scoleces occurred as early as 26 days after eggs were fed, yet no fully developed scoleces were present even after 104 days in another animal in the same feeding. Such feedings of eggs produced multiscolex larvae (up to 26 scoleces), or multiscolex and uniscolex larvae simultaneously, but never uniscolex larvae exclusively, although these were found occasionally in nature. Normal, fully developed scoleces were present on larvae 318 days old. Growth of T. mustelae larvae in Peromyscus maniculatus and the host reaction is described in detail. Multiscolex larvae from a natural infection fed to a mink produced adult T. mustelae.