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<br />IqgS Q(oJ1td1~1 oJ ell <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />An Ultrastructural Examination of the Scolex and <br />Tegument of Bothriocephalus acheilognathi <br />(Cestoda: Pseudophyllidea)1 <br /> <br />. <br />. <br /> <br />WILLARD O. GRANATH, JR.z, JON C. LEWIs3, AND GERALD W, ESCH <br /> <br />Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, <br />Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109, U.S.A, <br /> <br />Abstract, Immature, mature, and gravid specimens of Bothriocephalus acheilogna- <br />thi from mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) were studied by scanning (SEM) and trans- <br />mission electron microscopy (TEM), SEM of the heart-shaped scolex revealed long, <br />deep, pear-shaped bothria, A bilobed apical disc was present, although it was not prom- <br />inent, The scolex tegument possessed microtriches which were_morphologically distinct <br />from those of the strobila, Microtriches had a more slender appearance within the bothria <br />than on the surrounding tegument, SEM also revealed the presence of tumuli which <br />were numerous and uniformly spaced on the scolex, but became less abundant poste- <br />riorly along the strobila, TEM revealed that tumuli contained dense-staining inclusions, <br />Sensory cilia extended through the tegument of mature and gravid proglottids, The distal <br />cytoplasmic layer was connected to the perikarya by cytoplasmic bridges, Muscle bun- <br />dles were observed in longitudinal and cross-sections within the perinuclear region, <br />Various organelles, including ribosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, and Golgi bodies, were <br />present and within the cytons, <br /> <br />Ultrastructural aspects of cestodes have received the attention of many <br />investigators during the last two decades. Many of these studies have focused <br />on cestodes of medical or veterinary importance (e,g., Jha & Smyth, 1971; <br />Mehlhorn et aI., 1981; Rothman, 1963; Specian & Lumsden, 1980; Thompson <br />et ~I., 1979), although other cestodes have not been ignored entirely (e.g., <br />Hayunga & Mackiewicz, 1975; McVicar, 1972; Tedesco & Coggins, 1980). Gen- <br />erally, these studies have concentrated on a few specific microanatomical <br />features of the parasite in question (e.g" Berger & Mettrick, 1971; Coggins, <br />1980; Lumsden & Byam, 1967; Morseth, 1967; Specian et aI., 1979); few <br />exhaustive studies have been undertaken. <br />The present study was part of an investigation of the biology of Bothrio- <br />cephalus acheilognathi Yamaguti, 1934, a parasite of mosquitofish (Gambusia <br />affinis) in a North Carolina reservoir. B. acheilognathi was introduced into <br />the United States via grass carp in the early 1970's and since has become <br />well established in the mid-south and southeastern states (Hoffman, 1980). <br />Previous light microscopic studies have described the general morphological <br /> <br />.-1 <br /> <br />1 We thank Mr. Tillman Prader and staff of the EM laboratory of the Pathology Department, <br />Bowman Gray School of Medicine, for technical assistance, This research was supported, in part, <br />by a grant from the Wake Forest University Research and Publication Fund, <br />2 Present address: Department of Zoology, 730 Van Vleet Oval, University of Oklahoma, Nor- <br />man, Oklahoma 73019, U,S,A, <br />3 Department of Pathology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Win- <br />ston-Salem, North Carolina 27103, U,S,A. <br /> <br />TRANS. AM, MICROSC, Soc., 102(3); 240-250, 1983, <br />@ Copyright, 1983, by the American Microscopical Society, Inc. <br /> <br />qj/1 <br />