Morphology and development of the haptors among the Monocotylidae (Monogenea) |
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Authors: | Chisholm Leslie A Whittington Ian D |
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Institution: | (1) 1Department of Parasitology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia E-mail |
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Abstract: | Monocotylid monogeneans inhabit a wide diversity of sites on their chondrichthyan hosts including the skin, gills, nasal fossae,
urogenital system and coelom. The large variation in the morphology of the haptor appears to reflect this diversity in attachment
sites. We demonstrate that the complexity of the haptor can be related to the habitat of the parasite. Generally, those parasites
which live in habitats subject to strong water currents such as the gills and dorsal skin surface have more complex haptors
than those in environments exposed to weaker or no water currents including the nasal fossae, urogenital system and body cavity.
However, there can be considerable variation in haptoral components, even among congeners, living on the ‘gills’ of their
hosts. The microhabitat was determined for Monocotyle helicophallus and M. spiremae, both from the gills of the pink whipray,
Himantura fai, and M. corali from the gills of the cowtail ray, Pastinachus sephen. We demonstrate that differences in the
morphology of the hamuli and the number and morphology of septal sclerites and marginal papillae among these species of Monocotyle
can be related directly to their microhabitat. It also appears that different haptoral structures are important for attachment
to the host at different stages in the development of the parasite, based on studies on the development and distribution of
Neoheterocotyle rhinobatidis from the gills of the common shovelnose ray Rhinobatos typus.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | Monogenea Monocotylidae haptor attachment development microhabitat |
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