title: Spermatological characters of the digenean Lecithostaphylus retroflexus (Molin, 1859) (Microphalloidea: Zoogonidae), a parasite of the teleost fish Belone belone gracilis.
abstract: The ultrastructural organization of the spermatozoon of the digenean Lecithostaphylus retroflexus (Microphalloidea: Zoogonidae) was described. Alive digeneans were collected from Belone belone gracilis (Teleostei: Belonidae), caught from the Gulf of Gabès in Chebba (Tunisia). The mature spermatozoon of L. retroflexus exhibits two axonemes of different lengths with the 9+'1' Trepaxonematan pattern, a nucleus, two mitochondria, two bundles of parallel cortical microtubules and granules of glycogen. Additionally, the spermatozoon of L. retroflexus shows type 2 of the external ornamentation according to Quilichini et al. (2011), spine-like bodies and a continuous and submembranous layer of parallel cortical microtubules surrounding the axonemes at their anterior end. Moreover, the morphology of the posterior spermatozoon extremity in L. retroflexus corresponds to the fasciolidean type according to Quilichini et al. (2010).
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Département des Sciences de la Vie, Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, BP 1171, 3000 Sfax, Tunisia. Electronic address: hichemkacem2007@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kacem
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Management of Ecosystems, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, Senegal.
authors.forename: P I
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Ndiaye
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Département des Sciences de la Vie, Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, BP 1171, 3000 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Neifar
authors.affiliation: Laboratori de Parasitologia, Departament de Microbiologia i Parasitologia Sanitàries, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Joan XXIII, s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, 645, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.affiliation: Laboratori de Parasitologia, Departament de Microbiologia i Parasitologia Sanitàries, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Joan XXIII, s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, 645, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miquel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D054468:Axoneme / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005399:Fishes / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D014200:Trematoda / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000648:ultrastructure*
keywords: Digenea; Lecithostaphylus retroflexus; Microphalloidea; Spermatozoon; Ultrastructure; Zoogonidae