title: The neuro-muscular system in continuously swimming cercariae from Belarus. I Xiphidiocercariae.
abstract: The neuromuscular system (NMS) in cercariae of Neoastiotrema trituri, Plagiorchis elegans, Omphalometra flexuosa, Skrjabinoeces similis and Prosthogonimus ovatus was studied with immunocytochemical methods and confocal scanning laser microscopy. The patterns of F-actin in the musculature, 5-HT immunoreactive (IR), FMRFamide-IR neuronal elements and α-tubulin-IR sensory receptors were investigated, and they were found to be rather similar in all the cercariae studied. Four species have seven paired 5-HT-IR neurons in the body, and P. elegans has eight. N. trituri has three 5-HT-IR neurons in each brain ganglion, while the other species have four. A high degree of conformity in the structure of the NMS was observed, probably reflecting the close phylogenetic relationship and the similar strategy of host finding.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Parasitology of A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospect, 33, Moscow 119071, Russia.
authors.forename: Oleg O
authors.initials: OO
authors.lastname: Tolstenkov
authors.forename: Ludmila N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Akimova
authors.forename: Nadezhda B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Terenina
authors.forename: Margaretha K S
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Gustafsson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D009132:Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D009420:Nervous System / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002094:Republic of Belarus; D013550:Swimming; D014200:Trematoda / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*