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Terebrospira chattoni sp. n., a Parasite of the Endocuticle of the Shrimp Palaemonetes pugio Holthuis *
Author(s) -
BRADBURY PHYLLIS CLARKE,
CLAMP JOHN C.,
III J. T. LYON
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
the journal of protozoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 0022-3921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1974.tb03727.x
Subject(s) - ecdysis , biology , metamorphosis , anatomy , zoology , moulting , botany , larva
SYNOPSIS.Terebrospira chattoni sp. n. may be a species in transition between ectosymbiosis and endosymbiosis. It penetrates the epicuticle of Palaemonetes pugio and feeds on the endocuticle by dissolving galleries through it and absorbing the products of dissolution. Although similar in some respects to species of the endosymbiotic apostome genus Synophrya, T. chattoni is clearly related to ectosymbiotic apostomes that feed on exuvial fluid. However, instead of stimulating the metamorphosis of a phoront to a trophont, the host's ecdysis stimulates T. chattoni to metamorphose from a dedifferentiated trophont with 13 meridional kineties to a protomont, a predivision stage with 10 spiralled kineties. The protomont encysts and dedifferentiates to the division stage, an orthotomont with 13 kineties, either on the new exoskeleton before ecdysis, within a chamber in the endocuticle of the old exoskeleton, or on a substrate away from the host and the molt. The site of division determines the product of the division. On the new exoskeleton, the tomites in the reproductive cyst secrete walls around themselves thereby forming the lenticular, compartmented cysts characteristic of Terebrospira . Each daughter tunnels out of its compartment into the endocuticle. Although its infraciliature remains undifferentiated like that of the orthotomont, the ciliate in the gallery is the trophont, the only feeding stage in the life cycle. Daughters originating from the division of the orthotomont in a chamber in the endocuticle swim out of the exoskeleton at ecdysis. encyst on the substrate, and presumably form tomites. When the protomont itself leaves the molt, it encysts on the substrate and divides to form daughter cells with a rosette and the pattern of ciliature of the conventional tomite of other apostome genera. Tomites carry the infection to new hosts while compartmented cysts insure that the original host retains the infection. Terebrospira chattoni is always astomatous, although a dedifferentiated oral ciliature appears in the orthotomont and persists in the trophont. Terebrospira chattoni sp. n. is separated from T. lenticularis Debaisieux the other species in the genus because the latter species may divide outside a cyst and because T. chattoni has an extra reproductive stage in its life cycle.