Flatworms identification

[Harpyopsis]

Dear all,
I keep a good sample of Cestodes obtained from a batch of adult Discus after treatment with praziquantel. Total body lenght up to 40cm. Each fish carried between 5 and 10 worms.
Questions:
1. Could any of you give me a hint for proper identification of this parasite? (at least down to Genus level)
2. Has anybody a similar experience with massive Cestode infestations?
3. It would be interesting to identify the source of contamination. These fishes were fed on Tubifex and frozen blood worms. (needless to say that they are now on beef heart!).
I would be happy to share more info on this case background + symptomatology, and I am very interested in knowing more about fish flat-worms life cycles!
cheers to all!
phil

[Merrilyn]

Welcome to the forum Phil. That's a very interesting subject. I've never experienced a massive Cestode infestation in either my home bred fish or those imported from Malaysia.

Some of the members on this forum have wild caught discus, so they may contribute their experiences.

We seem to have more problems with nematodes in imported fish here in Australia.

If you have some photos, I think our members would find it very interesting.

[*Chris*]

all worms including live black worms and especially tubifex can harbour the worms in ther larval stages
when ingested the worms obviously take over resulting in outbreaks in which you have seen in your home fish
EXAI

[Squid]

Send me some photos/put them in this thread and I'll have a go at identifying them for you.
Also, I see that you are in Indonesia. If you can, see if you can contact Dr Subandiono, Dr Taufiq or Sarjito from the Uni in Jakarta. All are fish disease experts that I went through college with and will certainly help you out.

Squid