MORPHOMETRIC STUDY OF SEROTONERGIC NERVOUS COMPONENTS IN PLANARIANS GIRARDIA TIGRINA

The serotonergic components in the nervous system of planarian Girardia tigrina was shown by immunocytochemical method. The whole-mounts are used to extract the maximum information and conduct a quantitative morphometric analysis of serotonin-immunopositive elements in different body regions. The planarian nervous system is represented by cephalic ganglion in the anterior body part and a pair of well-defined ventral nerve cords running along the body. The density of serotonin components is greatest in the head region, which reflects in thickness of cephalic ganglion arch (123–94 µm) and of nerve cords, gradually decreasing from head (111–97 µm) to middle (83–42 µm) and tail (64-28 µm) zones. Nerve nodes contain 4–10 serotonergic neurons in different body regions and connected by a few transverse commissures with a distance from 70 to 145 µm. Results supplement the available data and can be useful for comparative analysis of serotonergic components in free-living and parasitic flatworms.

Redescription and molecular analysis of Neoechinorhynchus (Neoechinorhynchus) johnii Yamaguti, 1939 (Acanthocephala, Neoechinorhynchidae) from the Pacific Ocean off Vietnam

Neoechinorhynchus (Neoechinorhynchus) johnii Yamaguti, 1939 is redescribed from Eleutheronema tetradactylum (Polynemidae), Johnius carouna (Sciaenidae), Johnius sp., and Otolithes ruber (Sciaenidae) along the north and south coasts of Vietnam. Our description completes missing and inadequate information in the original descriptions and line drawings from Johnius goma in Japan and from Pseudosciaena diacanthus in the Indian Ocean. We add new information documented by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photomicroscopy, and explore the wide morphological diversity attributed to host species. The redescription includes: worms cylindrical with round proboscis with prominent apical organ, and large anterior hooks distant from small middle and posterior hooks; neck longer than the proboscis, nucleated lemnisci subequal, and receptacle with large basal triangulate cephalic ganglion and attached para-receptacle structure (PRS); male reproductive system in posterior half of trunk; adult females with introvert genital vestibule; and eggs spherical or rectangular. Gallium cuts and X-ray scans of hooks show high concentrations of sulfur on edge layer aiding in forming hardened calcium phosphate apatite of that layer with calcium and phosphorus in higher concentration in central part of hook. Molecular results consistently yielded a strongly supported distinct clade for the Neoechinorhynchus species from Vietnam for both 18S gene and the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region of ribosomal RNA. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that N. johnii occupies a separate position in the trees, probably indicating an Asian origin of this species.

Descriptions of acanthocephalans, Cathayacanthus spinitruncatus (Rhadinorhynchidae) male and Pararhadinorhynchus magnus n. sp. (Diplosentidae), from marine fish of Vietnam, with notes on Heterosentis holospinus (Arhythmacanthidae)

Males of Cathayacanthus spinitruncatus Amin, Heckmann & Ha, 2014 (Rhadinorhynchinae Lühe, 1912) are described for the first time from Leiognathus equulus in Hai Phong and Nha Trang and from pony fish Nuchequula flavaxilla in Quang Ninh in the Pacific waters of Vietnam. The male allotype status is designated. Males of C. spinitruncatus are smaller and have fewer and smaller proboscis hooks and trunk spines than females. The male reproductive structures are in the posterior fifth of the trunk and with 6 club-shaped cement glands gradually merging into 6 independent cement gland ducts. The proboscis receptacle is more than half as long as the trunk and with a cephalic ganglion at its anterior end. In females, the receptacle is only about one fifth the length of the trunk. Specimens described as Cathayacanthus bagarii Moravec & Sey, 1989 were shown to have been wrongly assigned to Cathayacanthus. Pararhadinorhynchus magnus n. sp. (Diplosentidae) is described from Scatophagus argus off Hai Phong in the Gulf of Tonkin. It is the third species of the genus and is readily distinguished from the Australian species by having a considerably larger trunk and male reproductive structures, and more proboscis hooks. X-ray microanalysis (EDAX) of intact and gallium-cut hooks of P. magnus showed high calcium and phosphate mainly in the central core. Specimens of Heterosentis holospinus Amin, Heckmann & Ha, 2011 (Arhythmacanthidae) are also reported from L. equulus off Quang Binh, new host and locality records.