Trypanorhynch cestodes parasitizing Mugil liza (Mugiliformes: Mugilidae) commercialized in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The aim of the present study was to identify, through morphological and morphometric analyses, the species of trypanorhynch cestodes found as plerocerci in the intestinal serosa of Mugil liza and to determine their parasitic indices. One hundred and fifty specimens of this mullet collected off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro were necropsied and the trypanorhynch cestodes found were fixed and preserved as whole mounts for morphological analysis. The plerocerci were identified as Callitetrarhynchus gracilis and Pterobothrium crassicole, both with a prevalence of 0.67%, an intensity of 1 and abundance of 0.0067, in single infections. This is the first record of a trypanorhynch cestode parasitizing M. liza in Brazil. Although the parasitic indexes were low, from a hygienic-sanitary perspective the plerocerci of these species are visible to the naked eye, and thus can disgust consumers and make marketing the fish unfeasible.

Phylogeny, genetics, and the partial life cycle of Oncomegas wageneri in the Gulf of Mexico

Despite the diversity and ecological importance of cestodes, there is a paucity of studies on their life stages (i.e., complete lists of intermediate, paratenic, and definitive hosts) and genetic variation. For example, in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) 98 species of cestodes have been reported to date; however, data on their intraspecific genetic variation and population genetic studies are lacking. The trypanorhynch cestode, Oncomegas wageneri, is found (among other places) off the American Western Atlantic Coast, including the GoM, and has been reported as an adult from stingrays and from several teleost species in its larval form (as plerocerci). This study represents the first report of 2 previously unregistered definitive hosts for O. wageneri, namely the Atlantic sharpnose shark Rhizoprionodon terraenovae and the southern stingray Hypanus americanus. In this work, partial sequences of the 28S (region D1–D2) ribosomal DNA were analyzed to include O. wageneri within an eutetrarhynchoid phylogenetic framework. All O. wageneri individuals (which included plerocerci and adults) were recovered as monophyletic and Oncomegas celatus was identified as the sister species of O. wageneri. Furthermore, population genetic analyses of O. wageneri from the southern GoM were carried out using DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene, which reflected high genetic variation and a lack of genetic structure among the 9 oceanographic sampling sites. Based on these results, O. wageneri is panmictic in the southern GoM. More extensive sampling along the species entire distribution is necessary to make more accurate inferences of population genetics of O. wageneri.

Prochristianella clarkeae Beveridge, 1990 (Eutetrarhynchidae): a species complex or a species with intraspecific variation in the distribution of its tegumental microtriches?

The microthrix pattern of common forms of the trypanorhynch cestode

Ultrastructural and cytochemical studies on vitellogenesis in trypanorhynch cestode Dollfusiella spinulifera Beveridge, Neifar et Euzet, 2004 (Eutetrarhynchidae)

The first description of vitellogenesis in the Trypanorhyncha is presented in this paper. Though the type of vitellogenesis and mature vitellocyte in Dollfusiella spinulifera appear to be unique among the Eucestoda, to some extent they resemble that observed in the lower cestodes, namely the Tetraphyllidea and Pseudophyllidea. Maturation is characterized by: (1) an increase in cell volume; (2) extensive development of large, parallel, frequently concentric cisternae of GER that produce proteinaceous granules; (3) development of Golgi complexes engaged in packaging this material; (4) continuous enlargement of proteinaceous granules within vesicles and their transformation into shell globule clusters; and (5) progressive fusion of all vesicles, with flocculent material containing the proteinaceous granules and shell globule clusters, into a single very large vesicle that characterises mature vitellocytes of this tapeworm. Cell inclusions in and around the large vesicle consist of flocculent material of a very low density, a few shell globule clusters, moderately dense proteinaceous granules and numerous large droplets of unsaturated lipids. A new previously unreported mode of transformation of proteinaceous granules into shell globule clusters, that evidently differs from that of pseudophyllideans and tetraphyllideans, is described. Cytochemical staining with periodic acid-thiosemicarbazide-silver proteinate for polysaccharides indicates a strongly positive reaction for membrane-bound glycoproteins in all membranous structures such as GER, mitochondria, Golgi complexes, nuclear and cell plasma membranes. Similar staining revealed β-glycogen particles scattered in the cytoplasm of maturing vitellocytes. Typical cytoplasmic β-glycogen particles appear mainly during early vitellocyte maturation but it is characteristic for this species that they are only seldom visible in mature cells. Some working hypotheses concerning the interrelationship between this particular pattern of vitellogensis, possible mode of egg formation in D. spinulifera, its embryonic development and trypanorhynchean life cycle, are drawn and discussed.

Ultrastructure of vitellocytes in the cestode Progrillotia pastinacae Dollfus, 1946 (Trypanorhyncha, Progrillotiidae)

The present study describes the ultrastructure of mature vitellocytes of the trypanorhynch cestode Progrillotia pastinacae Dollfus, 1946 (Progrillotiidae), a parasite of the common stingray Dasyatis pastinaca (Linnaeus, 1758) (Dasyatidae). The vitelline cells of this species measure about 24 μm in length and about 20 μm in width. They have small, elongated, slightly lobulated nuclei, about 4–5 μm in length, with large dense elongated nucleoli and numerous irregularly-shaped dense clumps of heterochromatin. The extensive cytoplasm is rich in numerous cell organelles and cell inclusions. While the perinuclear cytoplasm contains numerous long parallel cisternae of GER, ribo-and polyribosomes, several Golgi complexes and mitochondria, the peripheral cytoplasm contains predominantly three types of cell inclusions: a great number of large lipid droplets, several shell globule clusters, and a very small amount of glycogen-like particles. The most characteristic features of vitellocytes in P. pastinacae are having almost no traces of glycogen and the great number of large, highly osmiophobic lipid droplets representing saturated fatty acids. The presence of large amounts of lipids also in two other trypanorhynchs, Grillotia erinaceus (Beneden, 1858) Guiart, 1927 and Dollfusiella spinulifera (Beveridge et Jones, 2000) Beveridge, Neifar et Euzet, 2004, is in strong contrast to the condition in the most evolved cestodes, Cyclophyllidea, that usually show no trace of lipids.