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Morphological framework for attachment and locomotion in several Digenea of the families Microphallidae and Heterophyidae

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Abstract

Digenea usually use ventral sucker for sustainable attachment within intestine of their definitive vertebrate host. However, if the ventral sucker is absent or poorly developed, the means of attachment are unclear. We investigated attachment and locomotion in such digeneans: three species of the family Microphallidae (Microphallus piriformes, M. pygmaeus, and Levinseniella brachysoma) and two species of the family Heterophyidae (Cryptocotyle concava and C. lingua). Their tegumental spines and musculature were described with use of fluorescent actin staining, confocal microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Locomotion of living worms was observed and recorded. Wide serrated tegumental spines probably play the main role in attachment. Their firm contact with the host mucosa may be provided by the action of the ventral concavity—when the entire body or its part acts as a sucker. Dorsoventral muscle bundles act like radial musculature of the sucker generating negative pressure in the ventral concavity. The solid layer of longitudinal muscle fibers on the ventral body surface provides support for the bottom of the ventral concavity. In all microphallids, a U-shaped arrangement of body wall musculature (mostly originating from longitudinal fibers) outlines posterior part of the ventral concavity ridge. In all the studied species, tegumental spines, body wall musculature, and dorsoventral muscle bundles are better developed in the forebody which moves more actively than the hindbody.

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Notes

  1. The microphallid metacercariae of the “pygmaeus” group have all fully formed marita organs; the growth in the definitive host is minor (Galaktionov 1983).

  2. This characterizes ventrally concaved body (MacKinnon 1982; Boyce et al. 2012); terms describing the regionalization of body surfaces (ventral concavity ridge, slope etc.) are taken from Krupenko and Gonchar (2017).

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. George Slyusarev and Georgii Kremnev for help with the sampling and to Anna Gonchar and Natalia Lentsman for the revision of the manuscript. This research was carried out using the resources of Educational and Research Station “Belomorskaia” (Marine Biological Station) of Saint Petersburg State University. The confocal microscopy studies were carried out using the equipment of the research resource center “Molecular and Cell Technologies” of Saint Petersburg State University.

Funding

The reported study was funded by Russian Foundation for Basic Research, according to the research project no. 16-34-60156 mol_а_dk, and Saint Petersburg State University project nos. 1.42.1099.2016 and 1.42.739.2017.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Saint Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Darya Krupenko & Andrej A. Dobrovolskij

  2. Department of Zoology, Herzen State Pedagogical University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Andrej A. Dobrovolskij

Authors
  1. Darya Krupenko
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  2. Andrej A. Dobrovolskij
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Correspondence to Darya Krupenko.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Handling Editor: Julia Walochnik

Electronic supplementary material

Online Resource 1

Locomotion of Cryptocotyle concava marita. Speed *3. (MP4 7486 kb)

Online Resource 2

Locomotion of Microphallus pygmaeus marita. Speed *3. (MP4 5328 kb)

Online Resource 3

Locomotion of Levinseniella brachysoma marita. Speed *3. (MP4 1802 kb)

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Krupenko, D., Dobrovolskij, A.A. Morphological framework for attachment and locomotion in several Digenea of the families Microphallidae and Heterophyidae. Parasitol Res 117, 3799–3807 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-6085-2

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