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Anterior adhesive areas and adjacent secretions in the parasitic flatworms Decacotyle lymmae and D. tetrakordyle (Monogenea: Monocotylidae) from the gills of stingrays
Author(s) -
Cribb Bronwen W.,
Whittington Ian D.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
invertebrate biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.486
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1744-7410
pISSN - 1077-8306
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7410.2004.tb00142.x
Subject(s) - anatomy , viral tegument , monogenea , biology , gill , aperture (computer memory) , body surface , ultrastructure , fish <actinopterygii> , physics , geometry , mathematics , virology , fishery , acoustics
. The monogeneans Decacotyle lymmae and D. tetrakordyle (Monocotylidae: Decacotylinae), from gills of the dasyatid stingrays Taeniura lymma and Pastinachus sephen , respectively, have a single aperture for adhesive secretion on each side of the anterior ventrolateral region. Rod‐shaped bodies (S1) and electron‐dense spherical secretion (S2) exit through specialised ducts opening adjacent to one another within these apertures. The S1 bodies are 230 ± 11 nm wide and ≥4 μm long in D. lymmae and 240 ± 9 nm wide and ≥3.3 μm long in D. tetrakordyle . The S2 bodies have a diameter of 88 ± 7 nm in D. lymmae and 65 ± 6 nm in D. tetrakordyle . The apertures are unusual in being extremely small (internal diameter, 3–5 μm). Each aperture has a slit‐like surface opening as small as 160 nm wide, surrounded by muscle fibres indicating that they may be opened and closed. The aperture is also surrounded and underlain by muscle fibres that may aid in secretion from, or even eversion of, the tissue within the aperture. Sensilla/cilia are also found within the apertures. Additional secretions from anteromedian and anterolateral glands (body glands), each containing granular secretions, occur in profusion and exit anteriorly and posteriorly to the position of the apertures, through duct openings in the general body tegument. These granular secretions do not appear to be associated with anterior adhesion. Both species show similarities in aperture, underlying tissue, sense organ, and secretion detail, in accordance with findings from other monogenean genera, and which supports the importance of such data for phylogenetic studies.