Light and Electron Microscope Observations on Nosema nelsoni Sprague, 1950 (Microsporida,Nosematidae) with Particular Reference to its Golgi Complex*

SYNOPSIS. A species of Nosema in the muscles of the North American white shrimp, generally known as Penaeus setiferus but also known as P. fluviatilis, appears identical with type specimens of N. nelsoni Sprague, 1950, in P. aztecus. Its Golgi apparatus, as seen in the sporoblast, is a complex system of cisternae, small vesicles and expanded sacs which plays a major role in spore morphogenesis. It transforms directly into the polaroplast complex, certain membranous investments of the polar filament, the polar sac and perhaps part of the posterior vacuolar system. Probably the polar sac contains the polar cap. The PAS-positive material in both the cap and the filament may be a component of the Golgi complex. This new concept of the Golgi complex supplements our earlier view of spore morphogenesis according to which the polar filament is of nuclear origin. It also reconciles the idea with Vávra's identification of Golgi vesicles associated with the developing polar filament.