title: Observations on third-stage larvae and adults of Litomosoides carinii (Nematoda: Filarioidea) by scanning and transmission electron microscopy.
abstract: The morphology of the body wall of the infective third-stage larvae and adults of Litomosoides carinii was studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The mouth of both stages is surrounded by four inner papillae and two outer papillae; a pair of amphidial glands open laterally between the inner papillae. Female larvae and adults have two lateral caudal papillae; male larvae have a single ventral one, and adult males have two ventro-lateral lines of caudal papillae. The larval cuticle is two-layered, with fibres in the inner layer, whereas the adult cuticle has four layers apparently traversed by channels. Except for the chordal regions, larvae and adults both have an exceptionally thin hypodermis which is separated from both the cuticle and the underlying muscle cells by highly-convoluted membranes. The dorsal and ventral hypodermal chords contain nervous tissue, whereas the lateral hypodermis contains mainly mitochondria, golgi and micro-organisms. The muscle cells of larvae and adults contain thick and thin myofilaments arranged parallel to the long axis of the worms. In larvae each section has nine to 12 muscle cells, each of which has an inner non-sarcoplasmic zone containing the nucleus. The muscle cells of adult worms, although fewer in number, are more complex, and those of male worms in particular have lamellae which are deeply invaginated to form dense rectangular bands. Glycogen and lipid droplets are absent from larval muscle cells, whereas they are present in those of adult worms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Salford, U.K.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Storey
authors.forename: V C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Ogbogu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004199:Disease Vectors; D005370:Filarioidea / Q000254:growth & development / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D007814:Larva / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008925:Mites / Q000469:parasitology; D051381:Rats; D016205:Sigmodontinae