title: Anatomy of the cerebral ganglion in Oligacanthorhynchus tortuosa (Acanthocephala) from the opossum (Didelphis virginiana).
abstract: The anatomy of the cerebral ganglion from Oligacanthorhynchus tortuosa (Acanthocephala) resembles that previously described for large acanthocepalans from mammals. The cell population was equally distributed between each half of the ganglion, there were 38 cells on each side with seven cells centrally located. The core of the ganglion or neuropile occupied the central part of the ganglion and was the site for the crossover for many cell processes. Many of the axons from these cells exited from the side opposite the soma. The cell bodies predominated on the ventral surface while the dorsal surface was more of a mixture of cell bodies and neurites. The cytoarchitecture of these cells varied considerably but most had a large round nucleus with well-defined nucleoli. There were 83 cells, two of which were binucleate. The two binucleate cells were located at opposite extremes of the anteroposterior axis of the ganglion. The anterior binucleate cell was adjacent to the dorsal surface whereas the posterior cell was central and near the posterior terminal of the ganglion.
mesh_terms: D000049:Acanthocephala / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002466:Cell Nucleolus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D005724:Ganglia / Q000166:cytology*; D009893:Opossums / Q000469:parasitology