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General morphology and ultrathin structure of the gonopericardial complex of Chaetoderma nitidulum Lovén, 1844 (Caudofoveata)

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Abstract

Aplacophora is a small enigmatic group of worm-like molluscs covered by sclerites. The general morphology of the posterior end, including the gonopericardial system, in many species is well studied using light microscopy. However, knowledge of the ultrastructure of this complex is fragmentary and many questions concerning the excretion of metabolites in this group still remain. The gonopericardial system of Chaetoderma nitidulum Lovén, 1844 (Caudofoveata) from the White Sea was studied using light microscopy and 3D reconstruction from a series of semi-thin sections. The ultrastructure of the gonopericardial system was described in detail for the first time. The gonopericardial complex consists of gonads connected to the pericardium by ciliated paired gonopericardioducts. The pair of gonoducts begins at the lateral sides of the pericardium and opens into the mantle cavity. Gonoducts consist of upper and lower parts that are morphologically differentiated. The walls of the upper gonoducts consist of cells that likely participate in the excretion of metabolites and reabsorption of useful substances. Lower gonoducts are bulk bags with a small cell wall, in which there is a ciliary tract, likely for the excretion of metabolites and reproductive products. Spermatozoa were found at different stages of development in different parts of the pericardium and gonoducts. On the basis of previously published and newly obtained data, the process of excretion by C. nitidulum is proposed.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. A. Tzetlin for useful advice and discussions of the results. We thank our friend Ivan Ponomarev for help with English. We express our gratitude to G. Davidovich and A. Bogdanov and the Electron Microscopy Laboratory of the Shared Facilities Center of Lomonosov Moscow State University sponsored by the RF Ministry of Education and Science and Research. The authors also thank S. Mitelev and G. Bykov (I.D. Papanin Institute for the Biology of Inland Waters Russian Academy of Sciences) for help with electron microscopy. The light microscopy study was conducted using equipment from the Center of Microscopy of White Sea Biological Station.

Funding

The study was funded by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Grant Nos. 18-05-60158 and 19-04-00501, and Russian Science Foundation.

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  1. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

    Elizaveta Naduvaeva & Elena Vortsepneva

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  1. Elizaveta Naduvaeva
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  2. Elena Vortsepneva
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Correspondence to Elizaveta Naduvaeva.

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Naduvaeva, E., Vortsepneva, E. General morphology and ultrathin structure of the gonopericardial complex of Chaetoderma nitidulum Lovén, 1844 (Caudofoveata). Zoomorphology 139, 21–35 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-019-00473-1

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