Cestoda

Abstract

Cestodes are found comparatively rarely in amphibia, but both adult and larval (plerocercoid and tetrathyridium) stages occur. In R. temporaria, R. esculenta and R. pipiens, those species most commonly encountered belong to the orders Cyclophyllidea or Proteocephalidea. The plerocercoid of the broad tapeworm of man, Diphyllobothrium latum, has once been reported in R. esculenta¹⁸⁵, but this probably represents an accidental infection. The adult of only a single species, Nematotaenia dispar, is found in R. temporaria and R. esculenta, but this species does not appear to have been recorded in the U.K. In R. pipiens, five species, three adults and two larvae, have been reported^{170, 171}. The life cycles of only a few species are completely known. The general taxonomy of cestodes of amphibia has been reviewed by Yamaguti¹⁹⁴.