Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-c9gpj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T22:21:38.289Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The locomotion of the acanthor of Moniliformis dubius (Archiacanthocephala)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

P. J. Whitfield
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, King's College, London

Extract

The mature egg and the acanthor of Moniliformis dubius have been redescribed with special emphasis on the features relevant to the locomotion of this larval acanthocephalan. The movements of acanthors have been analysed by the use of frame by frame study of filmed records of motile acanthors. Acanthors appear to use the same mode of locomotion for hatching, locomotion within the gut of the intermediate host and penetration of the host's gut wall. Movement is produced by a set of spiralled, longitudinal muscles in the body wall of the hind body and two rostellar retractor muscles. This musculature acts both directly on the body wall and indirectly by hydraulic effects via the hydrostatic skeleton of pseudocoelomic fluid. The spiny evertable rostellum and the backward facing spines of the hind body are the means whereby shape changes of the acanthor interact with the immediate environment to produce effective progression.

I should like to thank Professor D. Arthur for the provision of laboratory facilities, Dr D. W. T. Crompton for the initial gift of eggs of M. dubius and Mr R. D. Reed for invaluable assistance with microcinematographic technique. The work was carried out during the tenure of a Nuffield Foundation Research Fellowship.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Chapman, G. & Newell, G. E. (1947). The role of the body fluid in relation to movement in soft-bodied invertebrates. I. The burrowing of Arenicola. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 134, 431–55.Google ScholarPubMed
Clark, R. B. (1964). Dynamics in Metazoan Evolution: The Origin of the Coelom and Segments. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
De Giusti, D. L. (1949). The life cycle of Leptorhynchoides thecatus (Linton), an acanthocephalan of fish. Journal of Parasitology 35, 437–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edmonds, S. J. (1966). Hatching of the eggs of Moniliformis dubius. Experimental Parasitology 19, 216–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grabda-Kazubska, B. (1964). Observations on the armature of embryos of acanthocephalans. Acta Parasitologica Polonica 12, 215–31.Google Scholar
Hammond, R. A. (1966). The proboscis mechanism of Acanthocephalus ranae. Journal of Experimental Biology 45, 203–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyman, L. H. (1951). The Invertebrates. III. Acanthocephala, Aschelminthes and Entoprocts. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Moore, D. V. (1964a). Studies on the life history and development of Moniliformis dubius Meyer, 1933. Journal of Parasitology 32, 257–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, D. V. (1946b). Studies on the life history and development of Macracanthorhynchus ingens Meyer, 1933, with a redescription of the adult worm. Journal of Parasitology 32, 387–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moore, D. V. (1962). Morphology, life history and development of the acanthocephalan, Mediorhynchus grandis Van Cleave, 1916. Journal of Parasitology 48, 7685.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, E. S. & Strickland, B. C. (1969). Cellular responses of Periplaneta americana to acanthocephalan larvae. Experimental Parasitology 26, 384–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trueman, E. R. (1968). Burrowing habit and the early evolution of body cavities. Nature, London 218, 9698.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wigglesworth, V. B. (1965). The Principles of Insect Physiology. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Zuckerkandl, E. (1950). Coelomic pressures in Sipunculus nudus. Biological Bulletin 98, 161–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed