Studies of the differentiating plerocercoid cuticle of Schistocephalus solidus. I. The histochemical analysis of cuticle development

Abstract

These studies were designed to obtain information on the histochemical development of the plerocercoid cuticle as observed in the pseudophyllidean cestode Schistocephalus solidus (Müller, 1776). It is probable that plerocercoid development is accompanied by a change in cuticular composition from a more proteinaceous condition to a largely mucopolysaccharide condition. At the surface of the cuticle a sulfomucin–basic protein complex is present. The possible significance of demonstrated material (alkaline and acid phosphatases, hyaluronic acid, ribonucleic acid, non-acid mucopolysaccharides, and lipids) in cuticular synthetic activities is considered.