title: A scanning electron microscope technique for studying the sclerites of Cichlidogyrus.
abstract: The genus Cichlidogyrus (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) includes more than 90 species, most of which are gill parasites of African cichlid fishes. Cichlidogyrus has been studied extensively in recent years, but scanning electron microscope (SEM) investigations of the isolated hard parts have not yet been undertaken. In this paper, we describe a method for isolating and scanning the sclerites of individual Cichlidogyrus worms. Twenty-year-old, formol-fixed specimens of Cichlidogyrus casuarinus were subjected to proteinase K digestion in order to release the sclerites from the surrounding soft tissues. SEM micrographs of the haptoral sclerites and the male copulatory organ are presented. The ability to digest formol-fixed specimens makes this method a useful tool for the study of historical museum collections.
authors.affiliation: Invertebrates Section, Biology Department, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Leuvensesteenweg 13, 3080, Tervuren, Belgium, wouter.fannes@africamuseum.be.
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fannes
authors.forename: Maarten P M
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Vanhove
authors.forename: Tine
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huyse
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paladini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods; D014200:Trematoda / Q000145:classification / Q000648:ultrastructure*
references.citation: Int J Parasitol. 2002 Mar;32(3):321-8
references.pmid: 11835972
references.citation: Parasitol Int. 2011 Dec;60(4):410-8
references.pmid: 21723959
references.citation: Folia Parasitol (Praha). 2009 Mar;56(1):21-8
references.pmid: 19391328
references.citation: J Parasitol. 1999 Apr;85(2):188-91
references.pmid: 10219293
references.citation: Syst Parasitol. 2009 Sep;74(1):23-7
references.pmid: 19633928
references.citation: J Parasitol. 2015 Feb;101(1):94-7
references.pmid: 25148647
references.citation: Parasitol Res. 2012 Jan;110(1):305-13
references.pmid: 21710349
references.citation: Parasit Vectors. 2011 Jun 09;4:100
references.pmid: 21658217
references.citation: Parasitol Res. 2013 Apr;112(4):1399-410
references.pmid: 23403992
references.citation: Adv Parasitol. 2007;64:161-376
references.pmid: 17499102