Abstract
Large masses composed of multiple “sand”-filled cysts were present in the liver of an electric ray, Torpedo californica. There was much inflammation and necrosis of pericystic parenchyma, but remarkably little fibrosis. Other organs were not involved. No evidence of microorganisms or neoplastic transformation was observed. The cysts are hydatid-like and are the first to be reported in a lower vertebrate. They possibly represent larval cestodes, for which elasmobranchs have not been known to be hosts.
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Communicated by G. L. Voss, Miami
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Smith, A.C., Little, H.F. Liver lesions produced by hydatid-like cysts in an elasmobranch, the electric ray (Torpedo californica). Marine Biology 3, 136–142 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00353434
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00353434