Tegumental Ultrastruetures of Echinostoma hoytense observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy

Echinostoma hortense 표피의 주사전자현미경적 관찰

The tegumental ultrastructures oi Echinostoma hortense adults were observed by scanning electron microscopy. The worms of 4 weeks of age were harvested from albino rats experimentally infected with the metacercariae obtained from the loach. The results were as follows: 1. The worms were leaf-like and their anterior end portion, including oral sucker and head crown, ventrally curved to face posteriorly. The tegument of whole body was wrinkled transversely and covered with cobblestone-like cytoplasmic processes. 2. The oral sucker had roundly swollen (type I ) sensory papillae on the ventral half of its lip and mini-ciliated knob-like (type I ) sensory papillae, arranged in 2∼3 rows, on the dorsal outer surface. 3. Aspinous ventral sucker had many of type I papillae arranged in a circular band on its outer surface. The tegument around the genital opening was of similar feature to the ventral sucker, but sensory papillae were hardly found around the former. 4. Scale-like spines with broad base and round tip were distributed densely on the tegument anterior to the ventral sucker but they became sparse in posterior half of the ventral surface, finally to disappear at posterior extremity. A few number of type I papillae were observed on the ventral surface. The results suggest that the tegument of 5. hortense is similar to that of other echinostomes etapecially 5. revolutum. But the number and arrangement of collar spines, and/or the type and distribution of sensory papillae seem characteristic features of E. hortense differed from other echinostomes.