Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Attack of the Copepods
Posted By Heidi Walters on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 12:29 PM
Photo by Alessandro Catenazzi
From National Geographic News comes this:
Once the parasitic crustaceans enter the gills of a tadpole victim, they feed off the tadpole's tissues until male and female parasites mate. The male dies soon after. Meanwhile the fertilized female bores her way partially out of the tadpole.
Yes, and then the tadpole develops into a small, weak frog possibly with no hind legs or missing an eye or otherwise deformed. The NGN briefing summarizes a report just published in the journal Copeia about this parasitic copepod, Lernaea cyprinacea , which has proliferated in the overwarm waters of South Fork Eel River and wormed its way into Foothill Yellow-legged frogs, Rana boylii .
Speaking of Environment, Science
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About The Author
Heidi Walters
Heidi Walters worked as a staff writer at the North Coast Journal from 2005 to 2015.
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