Parasites (?) found in C. ensicauda tanks

I posted about these possibly parasitic creatures before but have yet to be able to identify them. I've found them in my C. ensicauda popei tanks over the years but not in those of other species (or even in my nominate C. ensicauda tanks for that matter). My question to other C. e. popei keepers: have you observed these in your tanks?

I currently maintain a quarantine tank into which I move skinny C. e. popei that I suspect are suffering from high parasite loads. These worm-like creatures, be the nematodes or whatever, are often found in there and removed with a turkey baster. They are characterized by rapid movement, snake-like (S-pattern) swimming, and they are especially noticed after water changes (maybe PH shock sets them off?). I posted about them before (with better pics and some possibly useful info) at:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/7/25357.html

Can anybody with some knowledge of amphibian parasites roughly identify them? (please nobody suggest they're tubifex worms or the like because they're definitely not).

I found a list of parasites that infect amphibians at this site:

http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/phtm/PHTM/frogs/otherdiseases-parasite.htm

....and there's an interactive diagnostic key for identifying nematodes at this site:

http://nematode.unl.edu/wormgen.htm

...but I still haven't been able to narrow it down

I've preserved some (frozen and in ethanol) and plan to send them off to some researchers I know to have them checked. But in the meantime...any educated guesses?

(Message edited by TJ on April 23, 2007)

(enhanced photo, actual color is as in 1st photo)

(Message edited by TJ on April 23, 2007)

I am giving this some thought, but it's way beyond my knowledge base. The photos on the old thread remind me of some of the free-living critters I've seen in my tank debris, but I don't have any photos to know how similar they really are.

I think the only way to know for sure that they are parasites would be to find them inside an animal at necropsy. It is intriguing that you don't find them in other tanks, but I still think that the probability is that they are just "tank critters".

Thanks for the input Jen. Well, my unshakable impression (based mainly on gut feeling ) is that there's something malevolent about them. They swim around like tiny water snakes with rapid, jerky movements. I've found them only very rarely in the healthy popei tanks but commonly in both "hospital" tanks that I've maintained over the last few years. And then there was the case mentioned in the old thread at:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/7/1758.html

...in which one such worm seemed to have emerged from a wound (though it was a nominate newt, not a popei). One popei that had been ill for a long time died just the other day and it's a shame I didn't have any formalin or enough ethanol around to preserve it for necropsy. I plan to submit the worms soon to my herp vet and to a researcher

(Message edited by TJ on April 25, 2007)

Are they soft like an earthworm, or do they have a tougher skin??? They remind me a lot of a parasite i studied at uni, but it´s obviously not the same creature. I guess if it´s a parasite, it´s a japanese species of parasite...so i have no clue about them.
I think though these ones and the white one with a "head" in your other post are completely different species.
Wish i could help you :S Take a look at the skin...i´m not sure but i think someone at class told me that a tougher chitinous skin is more likely to appear in internal parasites.

About two weeks ago I found one of those in my C. orientalis tank. It came out while doing a water change. I tried searching the net ,but I found nothing. I have not found any since in my tank and all my newts are still alive and healthy.

I think a good diagnostic approach would be to do a fecal sample. If they are infesting the newts their would possibly be worms or eggs in their stool. If they are in the newts my guess is panacur might "cure" them. Then again if the infestation is to bad the dead parasites inside the newts could kill the newts.

Good idea Mike. I'll send fecal samples along with the worm samples.

What I've done now is moved 4 skinny popei from the "hospital tank" into a shoebox-sized plastic tub with water depth of about 2 cm, and I'm changing 100% of the water daily while checking the discarded water for any wormy creatures.

Rodrigo, other than what the photos show, I can't really tell much about the consistency of the skin. I was wondering if it might be a parasite endemic to the Ryukyu Islands. Again, I've never noticed these swimming around in my nominate ensicauda tanks, only the popei tanks, so maybe they're endemic to Okinawa Island...

Hi Cole. Glad to hear they haven't caused you any problems.