Intravital and histological studies of the internal organization of the rhizocephalan barnacleSacculina polygenea

We performed a short-term in vitro cultivation of interna fragments of the rhizocephalan barnacleSacculina polygenea, a parasite of the shore crabHemigrapsus sanguineus, and a histological study of an interna isolated from the host organism. It is shown that the colonial interna ofS. polygenea includes an extensive trophic system (a “root” system), which performs the functions of absorption, accumulation, and transportation of nutrients, and a reproductive system represented by numerous externa primordia at different stages of development. Vitellogenic oocytes were found in the ovary of the late primordia of externae. Thus, we observed the colonial structure of interna inS. polygenea with numerous elements of the reproductive and trophic systems and characteristic signs of fractal organization.