Feeding and rearing techniques used for larvae of Pleurodeles waltl (urodele amphibian) onboard the MIR space station

A research group in our laboratories works on development of amphibians under microgravity conditions. Several experiments were performed in space conditions using embryos or adults of the urodele amphibian, Pleurodeles waltl (Bautz et al., 1995; Dournon et al., 1997; Husson et al., 1998; Duprat et al., 1998; Aimar et al., 2000). In 1999, for the so-called Perseus French space mission onboard the MIR space station, the project was to rear embryos and larvae of Pleurodeles waltl in microgravity conditions to study the appearance and evolution of otoconia in the inner ear (Oukda et al., 1999a and b). The present paper reports the technique used to feed and rear Pleurodeles larvae in microgravity conditions with the assistance of a cosmonaut

A new method to force-feed and rear adult newts on board a space station

We developed a force-feed method for the adults of the newt, Pleuradeles waltl (urodele amphibian) under microgravity conditions on board the Mir space station, because the animals cannot take food themselves under such conditions. A cosmonaut introduced a catheter through the mouth into the stomach. The catheter was connected to a syringe containing food and allowed him to dose the quantity of injected food. The selected food was a complete diet for dogs and cats called “Prescription diet Canine/Feline a/d" made in USA and produced by the Hill‘s Pet Nutrition SNC (Sofia-Antipolis, France). It was diluted, sterilized and conserved on board the Mir station at ambient temperature (20-30 C). The protocol of force-feeding was successfully performed on board the space station during five months. After the space mission, two females were in good health status. They laid fertilized eggs in flight and again in the ground laboratory after the landing. According to the results obtained with Pleurodeles females. such food could be used in future long space flights