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Ultrastructural characters of the spermatozoa in Digeneans of the genus Bianium Stunkard, 1930 (Digenea, Lepocreadiidae) parasites of fishes: a comparative study of Bianium plicitum and Bianium arabicum

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Abstract

We present in this paper the first ultrastructural study of the spermatozoon of species of the genus Bianium Stunkard, 1930, namely Bianium plicitum and Bianium arabicum belonging to the family Lepocreadiidae. Specimens are parasites of the tetraodontid teleosts Lagocephalus laevigatus caught in the Atlantic Ocean and Lagocephalus sceleratus caught in Pacific Ocean, respectively. Live worms were fixed and processed for transmission electron microscopy. Observations of numerous cross and longitudinal sections of the spermatozoa of B. plicitum and B. arabicum demonstrated the general pattern described in all previously studied Lepocreadioidea, namely two axonemes with 9+ “1” pattern of Trepaxonemata, two mitochondria, a nucleus, parallel cortical microtubules, and an external ornamentation of the plasma membrane associated with spine-like bodies. The maximum number of cortical microtubules and the external ornamentation were not located at the anterior extremity of the spermatozoon but at a more posterior level, as in all the species of Lepocreadioidea studied to date. Differences observed between spermatozoa of B. plicitum and B. arabicum were observed in: (1) the location of the first mitochondrion, (2) size of cortical microtubules which were longer in B. arabicum than in B. plicitum, and (3) the order of the disappearance of the axonemes, mitochondrion, and cortical microtubules toward the posterior region of the spermatozoon. Only the nucleus reaches into the posterior extremity of the spermatozoon in these two species. The general pattern of the spermatozoon described in these two species exhibit the general model in the genus Bianium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SERME Service d’Etude et de Recherche en Microscopie Electronique, UMR 6134-SPE, CNRS – Università di Corsica, Campus Grimaldi, 20250, Corte, Corsica, France

    Yann Quilichini & Bernard Marchand

  2. Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Management of Ecosystems, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, BP 5055, Dakar, Senegal

    Papa Ibnou Ndiaye, Aminata Sène & Cheikh Tidiane Bâ

  3. Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB, UMR7205 CNRS, EPHE, MNHN, UPMC, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, CP 51, 57 rue Cuvier, 75231, Paris, France

    Jean-Lou Justine

  4. Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom

    Rodney A. Bray

  5. Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, 10 Cornell street, 101 Starcher hall, Grand Forks, ND, 58202 – 9019, USA

    Vasyl V. Tkach

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  1. Yann Quilichini
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  2. Papa Ibnou Ndiaye
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  3. Aminata Sène
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  4. Jean-Lou Justine
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  7. Cheikh Tidiane Bâ
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  8. Bernard Marchand
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Correspondence to Yann Quilichini.

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Quilichini, Y., Ndiaye, P.I., Sène, A. et al. Ultrastructural characters of the spermatozoa in Digeneans of the genus Bianium Stunkard, 1930 (Digenea, Lepocreadiidae) parasites of fishes: a comparative study of Bianium plicitum and Bianium arabicum . Parasitol Res 114, 3747–3757 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4604-y

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