EXPERIMENTAL INFECTIONS OF CYCLOPID COPEPODS WITH TRIAENOPHORUS CRASSUS FOREL AND T. NODULOSUS (PALLAS)
Coracidia of both Triaenophorus crassus and T. nodulosus were fed to 19 species of cyclopid copepods, and coracidia of one or the other were fed to 4 other species. Procercoids of both species of parasite developed in nine species of cyclopids. Three species were infected with T. crassus only and four with T. nodulosus only. Size or feeding habits of the specimens did not influence the ingestion of coracidia. The presence of non-feeding individuals may have influenced the infection rate of some species. Herbivorous species, carnivorous species, and species which did not become infected ate large quantities of coracidia.Microcyclops varicans rubellus was the most easily infected cyclopid species in the experiments. It is probably an important host of Triaenophorus in North American lakes along with Cyclops bicuspidatus thomasi, Cyclops brevispinosus, and, in certain areas, Cyclops scutifer.