A scanning electron microscope technique for studying the sclerites of Cichlidogyrus

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Authors

FANNES Wouter VANHOVE Maarten Pieterjan HUYSE Tine PALADINI Giuseppe

Year of publication 2015
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Parasitology Research
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Science

Citation
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4446-7
Field Zoology
Keywords Platyhelminthes; Cichlidae; Anchor; MCO; Male apparatus
Description The genus Cichlidogyrus (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) includes more than 90 species, most of which are gill parasites of African cichlid fishes. Cichlidogyrus has been studied extensively in recent years, but scanning electron microscope (SEM) investigations of the isolated hard parts have not yet been undertaken. In this paper, we describe a method for isolating and scanning the sclerites of individual Cichlidogyrus worms. Twenty-year-old, formol-fixed specimens of Cichlidogyrus casuarinus were subjected to proteinase K digestion in order to release the sclerites from the surrounding soft tissues. SEM micrographs of the haptoral sclerites and the male copulatory organ are presented. The ability to digest formol-fixed specimens makes this method a useful tool for the study of historical museum collections.
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