Features of the Organization of the Tegument in Cystacanth and Adult Acanthocephalan <i>Acanthocephalus tenuirostris</i>

Abstract

A comparative light- and electron-microscopic study of the tegument of a formed cystacanth and a mature acanthocephalan Acanthocephalus tenuirostris (Achmerov et Dombrowskaja – Achmerova, 1941) was carried out. It was shown that, in addition to morphometric differences, the tegument of cystacanth differs from that of the adult acanthocephalan by terminal expansions of invaginates of the outer tegument membrane, presumably due to the secretion of glycocalyx material. In the tegument of an adult acanthocephalan, a process of detachment from the nuclei of small fragments was found, which may be an analogue of the well-known process of nuclear fragmentation that occurs at the early stages of postembryonic development. It has been shown that in many cases tegument lacunae are not completely limited by dense formations resembling fibrils on sections.