Date of Award

8-1967

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Biology

Abstract

A study was made to determine if fish tissue was poisoned by the coelomic fluid extracted from the common coelomic cavity of colonies of the freshwater bryozoan, Lophopodella carteri (Hyatt). Additional studies were made of fish tissues, in vivo and in vitro, when exposed to homogenates of crushed colonies of L. carteri in isotonic medium.

The fish exposed to the coelomic fluid did not show any signs of respiratory distress and therefore the poisonous quality must be located elsewhere in the bryozoan. The homogenates were determined to be poisonous as fishes exposed to a 3.0% solution were killed within an hour. However, monolayer cell cultures of fin, and excised gill showed no significant structural change after treatment with 3.0% homogenates. The results purport that fishes exposed to L. carteri poison do not die from apparent gill tissue damage.

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Biology Commons

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