Ultrastructure of spermiogenesis and mature spermatozoon of Triaenorhina rectangula (Cestoda: Cyclophyllidea: Paruterinidae).

Ultrastructural characters of spermiogenesis and mature spermatozoon of Triaenorhina rectangula (Fuhrmann, 1908) are examined by transmission electron microscopy. Spermiogenesis follows the Bâ and Marchand's Type III spermiogenesis of cestodes. The process begins with the formation of a differentiation zone containing two centrioles and a cytoplasmic protrusion. The centrioles are associated with vestigial striated roots. One of the centrioles develops a free flagellum externally to the cytoplasmic protrusion. After a slight rotation, the free flagellum fuses with the cytoplasmic protrusion. In the final stage of spermiogenesis, a single crested body appears in the anterior part of the differentiating spermatozoon. The anterior extremity of the mature spermatozoon is characterised by an apical cone and a single crested body. The axoneme is of the 9+"1" trepaxonematan type. A periaxonemal sheath and electron-dense rods are described in some parts of the mature spermatozoon. The nucleus is electron-dense and spirally coiled around the axoneme. The cortical microtubules are spirally arranged at an angle of about 40 degrees to the spermatozoon axis. The present results show that the ultrastructural characters of spermiogenesis and mature spermatozoon of T. rectangula resemble most closely those in taeniids and metadilepidids. The comparison of these results with the only previous spermiological description of a paruterinid species reveals differences relative to the occurrence of filamentous rods of electron-dense material versus intracytoplasmic walls in the mature spermatozoon that may reflect the polyphyletic character of the Paruterinidae.

Spermiogenesis and sperm ultrastructure of Valipora mutabilis Linton, 1927 (Cestoda, Cyclophyllidea, Gryporhynchidae).

This is the first ultrastructural study of the spermiogenesis and the mature spermatozoon of a cyclophyllidean cestode of the family Gryporhynchidae. The spermiogenesis of Valipora mutabilis begins with the formation of a differentiation zone delimited by arching membranes and containing two centrioles. One of the centrioles develops an axoneme that grows directly into the cytoplasmic protrusion. The other centriole remains situated in a cytoplasmic bud and is subsequently aborted (type IV of cestode spermiogenesis). The mature spermatozoon of V. mutabilis is a filiform cell, tapered at both extremities and lacks mitochondria. The anterior extremity is characterised by the presence of an apical cone and a single helicoidal crested body. The axoneme is of 9 + '1' trepaxonematan pattern, with a periaxonemal sheath. The cortical microtubules are twisted at an angle of about 45 degrees to the spermatozoon axis. The nucleus is electron dense and spirally coiled around the axoneme. The cytoplasm is electron lucent and contains numerous granules of electron-dense material. In contrast to a recent opinion for close phylogenetic relationships, these ultrastructural data demonstrate the distant position between gryporhynchids and the family Taeniidae. The most similar pattern in the ultrastructure of the spermiogenesis and the mature spermatozoon has been described for dilepidids, some hymenolepidids and some anoplocephalids.

Ultrastructure of the contact surfaces of Passalurus ambiguus (Rudolphi, 1819) (Nematoda).

The ultrastructure of the contact surfaces (integument and intestinal wall) of the nematode Passalurus ambiguus has been studied. The integument is composed according to the scheme common for all nematodes and includes a cuticle, hypodermis and a muscular layer. The specificity is with regard to the epicuticle, the different number of the cuticular sublayers in the anterior, central and the posterior parts of the worm body and the absence of a basal cuticular membrane. The intestinal wall consists of epithelial cells with microvilli. The ultrastructural characteristics of both contact surfaces indicate their main functions--absorption, secretion, transport, protection, movement, etc.