Jordi Miquel(1)*, Zdzislaw Swiderski(2,3) and Bernard Marchand(4) - Spermatological characters in the Dipylidiidae Stiles, 1896
(Cestoda, Cyclophyllidea)
(1)Laboratori de Parasitologia, Departament de Microbiologia i Parasitologia Sanitaries, Facultat de Farmacia, Universitat de Barcelona,
Av. Joan XXIII, s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; (2)W. Stefanski Institute of Parasitology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 51/55 Twarda Street,
00-818 Warsaw, (3)Department of General Biology and Parasitology, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland; (4)Laboratoire Parasites et
Écosystemes Méditerraneens, Faculte des Sciences et Techniques, Universite de Corse, 20250 Corte, France
*Corresponding author: jordimiquel@ub.edu
ABSTRACT
The present paper compares the ultrastructural data on spermatology of three dipylidiid species (Dipylidium caninum,
Joyeuxiella echinorhynchoides and J. pasqualei) and establishes a general pattern of spermiogenesis and main ultrastructural
characters of the mature spermatozoa for the Dipylidiidae. Spermiogenesis is characterized by an external growth of the flagellum
followed by a proximodistal fusion of the latter with the cytoplasmic extension. The centrioles are associated with striated
rootlets which are thin in D. caninum and well-developed in Joyeuxiella spp. The most characteristic features of the mature
spermatozoa of the three species are the presence of a single crest-like body and a periaxonemal sheath. Nevertheless, the three
compared species differ in the thickness of these structures. Differences are also observed in the length of the apical cone.
KEY WORDS: Dipylidium caninum, Joyeuxiella echinorhynchoides, J. pasqualei, Cestoda, Cyclophyllidea, Dipylidiidae, spermiogenesis,
spermatozoon, ultrastructure