The colored dots described by Schüffner in Plasmodium vivax are fine caveolae (= invaginations) at the surface of the infected reticulocytes (which become filled with the stain). Maurer’s clefts, however, are enlargements of the parasitophorous vacuole inside P. falciparum- and P. malariae-infected red blood cells (Fig. 1).
Light micrographs of red blood cells of humans infected by stages of four Plasmodium species. Note that infected cells of P. vivax and P. ovale show the so-called Schüffner’s dots (T). E erythrocyte, ES young schizont, G gamont, N nucleus, SH schizont, T Schüffner’s dots
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Mehlhorn, H. (2015). Schüffner’s Dots. In: Mehlhorn, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parasitology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_2816-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_2816-2
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