Acanthocephala
Acanthocephala Temporal range:
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Corynosoma wegeneri | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Subkingdom: | Eumetazoa |
Clade: | ParaHoxozoa |
Clade: | Bilateria |
Clade: | Nephrozoa |
(unranked): | Protostomia |
(unranked): | Spiralia |
Clade: | Gnathifera |
Phylum: | Acanthocephala |
Classes | |
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Acanthocephala
The Acanthocephala were thought to be a discrete
History
The earliest recognisable description of Acanthocephala – a worm with a proboscis armed with hooks – was made by Italian author
Evolutionary history
The oldest known remains of acanthocephalans are eggs found in a coprolite from the Late Cretaceous Bauru Group of Brazil, around 70-80 million years old, likely from a crocodyliform. The group may have originated substantially earlier.[11]
Phylogeny
Acanthocephalans are highly adapted to a parasitic mode of life, and have lost many organs and structures through evolutionary processes. This makes determining relationships with other higher taxa through morphological comparison problematic.
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The three rotifer classes and the Acanthocephala make up a clade called Syndermata.[12][4] This clade is placed in the Platyzoa.
A study of the gene order in the mitochondria suggests that Seisonidea and Acanthocephala are sister clades and that the Bdelloidea are the sister clade to this group.[13]
Currently the phylum is divided into four classes –
Morphology
This section needs additional citations for verification. (March 2021) |
Several morphological characteristics distinguish acanthocephalans from other phyla of parasitic worms.
Digestion
Acanthocephalans lack a mouth or
Proboscis
The most notable feature of the acanthocephala is the presence of an
Like the body, the proboscis is hollow, and its cavity is separated from the body cavity by a septum or proboscis sheath. Traversing the cavity of the proboscis are muscle-strands inserted into the tip of the proboscis at one end and into the septum at the other. Their contraction causes the proboscis to be invaginated into its cavity. The whole proboscis apparatus can also be, at least partially, withdrawn into the body cavity, and this is effected by two retractor muscles which run from the posterior aspect of the septum to the body wall.
Some of the acanthocephalans (perforating acanthocephalans) can insert their proboscis in the intestine of the host and open the way to the abdominal cavity.[16]
Size
The size of these animals varies greatly, some are measured to be a few millimetres in length to
Skin
The body surface of the acanthocephala is peculiar. Externally, the skin has a thin
Except for the absence of the longitudinal fibres the skin of the proboscis resembles that of the body, but the fluid-containing tubules of the proboscis are shut off from those of the body. The canals of the proboscis open into a circular vessel which runs round its base. From the circular canal two sac-like projections called the lemnisci run into the cavity of the body, alongside the proboscis cavity. Each consists of a prolongation of the syncytial material of the proboscis skin, penetrated by canals and sheathed with a muscular coat. They seem to act as reservoirs into which the fluid which is used to keep the proboscis "erect" can withdraw when it is retracted, and from which the fluid can be driven out when it is wished to expand the proboscis.
Nervous system
The central ganglion of the nervous system lies behind the proboscis sheath or septum. It innervates the proboscis and projects two stout trunks posteriorly which supply the body. Each of these trunks is surrounded by muscles, and this nerve-muscle complex is called a retinaculum. In the male at least there is also a
may possibly be sense-organs.Life cycles
This section needs additional citations for verification. (March 2021) |
Acanthocephalans have complex life cycles, involving a number of hosts, for both developmental and resting stages. Complete life cycles have been worked out for only 25 species.[4]
Reproduction
The Acanthocephala are
In the female, the
Release
Having been expelled by the female, the acanthocephalan egg is released along with the feces of the host. For development to occur, the egg, containing the acanthor, needs to be ingested by an arthropod, usually a crustacean (there is one known life cycle which uses a mollusc as a first intermediate host). Inside the intermediate host, the acanthor is released from the egg and develops into an acanthella. It then penetrates the gut wall, moves into the body cavity, encysts, and begins transformation into the infective cystacanth stage. This form has all the organs of the adult save the reproductive ones.
The parasite is released when the first intermediate host is ingested. This can be by a suitable final host, in which case the cystacanth develops into a mature adult, or by a
Host control
Thorny-headed worms begin their life cycle inside invertebrates that reside in marine or freshwater systems. Gammarus lacustris, a small crustacean that inhabits ponds and rivers, is one invertebrate that the thorny-headed worm may occupy. In recent years the occurrence of infections from these parasites have been increasing in Asian aquaculture practices.[17] This crustacean is preyed on by ducks and hides by avoiding light and staying away from the surface. However, when infected by a thorny-headed worm it becomes attracted toward light and swims to the surface. Gammarus lacustris will even go so far as to find a rock or a plant on the surface, clamp its mouth down, and latch on, making it easy prey for the duck. The duck is the definitive host for the acanthocephalan parasite. In order to be transmitted to the duck, the parasite's intermediate host (the gammarid) must be eaten by the duck. This modification of gammarid behavior by the acanthocephalan is thought to increase the rate of transmission of the parasite to its next host by increasing the susceptibility of the gammarid to predation.
It is thought that when Gammarus lacustris is infected with a thorny-headed worm, the parasite causes serotonin to be massively expressed. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter involved in emotions and mood. Researchers have found that during mating Gammarus lacustris expresses high levels of serotonin. Also during mating, the male Gammarus lacustris clamps down on the female and holds on for days. Researchers have additionally found that blocking serotonin releases clamping. Another experiment found that serotonin also reduces the photophobic behavior in Gammarus lacustris. Thus, it is thought that the thorny-headed worm physiologically changes the behavior of the Gammarus lacustris in order to enter the bird, its final host.
Examples of this behaviour include the
The life cycle of Polymorphus spp. normally occurs between sea ducks (e.g. eiders and scoters) and small crabs. Infections found in commercial-sized lobsters in Canada were probably acquired from crabs that form an important dietary item of lobsters. Cystacanths occurring in lobsters can cause economic loss to fishermen. There are no known methods of prevention or control.
Human infections
In humans, it causes the disease
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 9780521246743.
- ^ Koelreuter, I. T. (1770). "Descriptio cyprini rutili, quem halawel russi vocant, historico-anatomica". Novi Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae. 15: 494–503.
- ^ "acanthocephalan". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ PMID 37350678.
- ISSN 0003-4150.
- PMID 3059956.
- ISBN 9780073028279.
- ^ Freeman, Scott, Lizabeth Allison, Michael Black, Greg Podgorski, and Kim Quillin. Biological Sciences. 5th ed. Glenview, Il: Pearson, 2014. 638. Print.
- ^ Encyclopedia of Life, retrieved July 24, 2015
- ^ Shimek, Ronald (January 2006). "Nano-Animals, Part I: Rotifers". Reefkeeping.com. Retrieved July 27, 2008.
- S2CID 155091017.
- ISBN 978-0-03-025982-1, p. 788ff. – see particularly p. 804
- PMID 26702959.
- PMID 23044398.
- PMID 25331738.
- ^ "Acanthocephalans drilling Acipenser stellatus intestine". Parasites World. Archived from the original on April 30, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
- S2CID 246297133.
- ^ Itämies, J.; Valtonen, E. T.; Fagerholm, H. P. (1980). "Polymorphus minutus (Acanthocephala) infestation in eiders and its role as a possible cause of death". Ann. Zool. Fenn. 17 (4): 285–289.
- S2CID 6120428.
- PMID 5090967.
- PMID 6827437.
- PMID 19689468.
Further reading
- Amin, O. M. (1987). "Key to the families and subfamilies of Acanthocephala, with erection of a new class (Polyacanthocephala) and a new order (Polyacanthorhynchida)". Journal of Parasitology. 73 (6): 1216–1219. PMID 3437357.
- Lühe, M. (1904). "Geschichte und Ergebnisse der Echinorhynchen – Forschung bis auf Westrumb (1821)". Zoologischer Annalen. 1: 139–250.
- Tain, Luke; Marie-Jeanne Perrot-Minnot; Frank Cézilly (December 22, 2006). "Altered host behaviour and brain serotonergic activity caused by acanthocephalans: evidence for specificity". PMID 17015346.
- ISBN 978-0-7432-0011-0.