Comparative Parasitology 67(2) 2000 - Peru State College

246 COMPARATIVE PARASITOLOGY, 67(2), JULY 2000
Figures 1-4. Scanning electron micrographs of Gnathostoma cf. binucleatum. 1. Lateral view of the
head bulb of Temazcal specimen. The arrow indicates the cervical papilla. Scale = 50 |xm. 2. An enlarged
view of the booklets. The base of each booklet has an oblong shape. Sharp keratin hooks armed posteriorly.
Scale = 10 u.m. 3. A mammary form of the cervical papilla (CP) protruding from the tegument. Scale =
3 jxm. 4. The oval-shaped opening of the excretory pore (EP), which opens ventrally. Scale = 3 u.m.
(Akahane et al., 1994). This feature closely resembles
that of the Sinaloan specimen. Once
again, no differences were observed in intestinal
cells between the larvae from Temazcal and Sinaloa,
and we conclude that both should be included
in the same species (G. binucleatum).
Further, we could not differentiate G. binucleatum
from G. spinigerum based on the number of
nuclei in the intestinal cells. Most specimens of
G. spinigerum from Thailand also had 2 to 4
Copyright © 2011, The Helminthological Society of Washington
nuclei in the intestinal cells. On the other hand,
the number of nuclei in the intestinal cells of
other Asian species, e.g., G. hispidurn and G.
doloresi, have only 1 nucleus per cell (Akahane
et al., 1994). Almeyda-Artigas' light microscopic
observations of the larvae were limited regarding
the number of booklets in each row and
the number of nuclei in the intestinal cells. Recently
Koga et al. (1999) experimentally obtained
the adults of this Mexican gnathostome