Vol. 7, pp. 44-^7

Asiatic Herpetological Research

1997

Helminths of Tago's Brown Frog, Rana tagoi tagoi (Ranidae), from Japan
Stephen R. Goldberg,2Charles R. Bursey and Quynh A. Truong

1

Department of Biology, Whittier College, Whittier, California 90608, USA

1

2

1

Department of Biology. Pennsylvania State University, Shenango Valley Campus. 147 Shenango Avenue,Sharon, Pennsylvania 16146, USA

Rana tagoi tagoi. 22 (69% prevalence) harbored helminths. One cestode Cylindrotaenia
meanjaponica (prevalence 25%, mean intensity 3.4). three nematodes Cosmocerca japonica (prevalence 53%,Rhahdias
meannipponica (prevalenceintensity 1.0),intensity 3.1), Oswaldocruzia socialis (prevalence 3%.
22%, mean intensity 2.9) and an acanthocephalan, Acanthocephalus lucidus (prevalence 22%, mean intensity4.7) were found. Rana tagoi tagoi represents a new host record for Cylindrotaenia japonica. Cosmocerca
Abstract. -Of 32

japonica. Oswaldocruzia socialis and Rhahdias nipponica.

Ke\ words: Rana tagoi tagoi. Ranidae. Cylindrotaenia japonica. Cosmocerca japonica. Oswaldocruzia socialis.
Rhahdias nipponica. Acanthocephalus lucidis. JapanIntroduction
Tago's brown frog, Rana tagoi tagoi Okada, 1928 isknown from Honshu. Shikoku. Kyushu Islands, Japan

where it lives in montane regions (Maeda and Matsui.
1990). To date the only helminth known from R. t.
tagoi

is

the acanthocephalan, Acanthocephalus luci-Van Cleave, 1925 reported by Uchida (1975).
With world-wide concern over declining amphibiandus

populations (Heyer et al.. 1994). possible negative
effects of parasites on frogs has become a topic ofinterest; however, the helminth fauna are incompletely

known or has yet to be studied in many species ofamphibians. The purpose of this note is to report theresults of a helminth survey of R. t. tagoi.

Materials and Methods
Thirty two (25 males, 7 females) Rana tagoi tagoi(mean snout- vent length 40.9 ± 6.2 SD. range 26-54)

Specimens were collected on Honshu Island during the period June 1988-May 1995
between elevations of 160-800 m. Twenty-nine werewere examined.

from Kanagawa Prefecture; seventeen from Tanzawa,(35°28"N, 139°10 E). eight from Hakone (35°12'N,139°02"E), two from Hadano (35°22'N, 139°14"E)and two from Kiyokawa (36°12'N, 138°30"E). Two

were from Shizuoka Prefecture; Gotemba (35°18"N.
138°56"E) and one was from Fukushima Prefecture,-Hinoemata (37°02 N. 139°24"E).

The body cavity was opened ventrally and theesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine.

lungs and urinary bladder were slit longitudinally andexamined under a dissecting microscope. The liverand body cavity were also examined for helminths.
All helminths were identified utilizing a glycerol wetmount. Selected cestodes were stained with hematoxylin

and mounted whole in Canada Balsam.

Frogs

were deposited in the herpetology collection of theNatural History Museum of Los Angeles County(LACM): Fukushima Prefecture LACM
141247-141251;
Kanagawa Prefecture141440:141443-141447;

Shizuoka Prefecture141916;141442;141426-141918-141920;
Helminths

141917.

141441;

were deposited in the U.S. National Parasite Collection(Beltsville,Maryland 20705): Cylindrotaenia

japonica. 85329; Acanthocephalis lucidus, 85333;
Cosmocerca japonica, 85330; Oswaldocruzia socia-85332; Rhahdias nipponica. 85331. Terminology
usage is in accordance with Margolis et al. 1982).
lis.

(Results and Discussion
Twenty two of 32 (69% prevalence) frogs were
infected by helminths (Table1):

19 of 25 males (76%prevalence) and 3 of 7 females(43%prevalence).

However, there was no significant difference for prevalence of infection between males and females (Chisquare statistic= 0.58, 1 df, P > 0.05). None of theseparasites are unique to R. t. tagoi.

Cylindrotaenia japonica (Yamaguti, 1938) Jones,
1987, a parasite of the small intestine, has beenreported only from anurans of the Japanese Archipelago. Although nothing is known of its life cycle, Joy-Asiatic Herpetological Research

1997

Table 1.

Vol. 7. p. 45

Helminth parasites of Tago's brown frog, Rana tagoi tagoi, from Japan.

Parasite

Prevalence

Mean intensity(%)(range)25

3.4(1-6)

CestodaCylindrotaenia japonica

Nematoda
Cosmocerca japonica

53

Oswaldocruzia socialis

Rhabdias nipponica
Acanthocephala

Acanthocephalus lucidus

22Location

1997

Asiatic Herpetological ResearchVol. 7. p. 46

Adults appeared 7-9 days postinfection.

Other hosts

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Rana nigromaculata, Rana rugosa from1975): Rana guentheri, Rana limno(Uchida,Japancharis, Rana nigromaculata from South China (Kungand Wu, 1945: Wang et al.. 1978): Rana rugulosa

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Heyer, W. R., M. A. Donnelly, R. W. Mcdiarmid. L. C.
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includeAcanthocephalus lucidus, a parasite of the small
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host,1956).

Other(Petrochenko,Current Herpetology in East Asia.

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Nematotaeniidae Luhe.

Uchida (1975) lists 15 anurans from Japan harboring on average 7.7 species of helminths: helminth
diversity ranges from a minimum of 1 species in Hop-lohatrachus tigerinus to 26 species in Rana nigromac-

With 5 helminth species present, R.

t.

tagoi isnear the lower end of the diversity scale for JapaneseStandard meth-ods for amphibians. Smithsonian Institution Press,
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