The lateral line system in larvae of the blind cyprinid cavefish, Phreatichthys andruzzii.

Scanning and transmission electron microscopic observations were made on the anterior and posterior lateral line system of larvae of the blind cavefish, Phreatichthys andruzzii. The investigations were conducted on 36 specimens belonging to three different ages of juvenile: 7, 14, and 28 days posthatching. The basic sensory unit of the mechanoreceptive system is a superficial "neuromast," which is composed of sensory hair cells (HCs) embedded in nonsensory support cells (SCs) frequently covered with a cupula.

Histopathological and ultrastructural observations of metacercarial infections of Diplostomum phoxini (Digenea) in the brain of minnows Phoxinus phoxinus.

The spatial distribution and histopathological changes induced by metacercariae of the digenean trematode Diplostomum phoxini (Faust, 1918) in the brains of European minnows Phoxinus phoxinus (L.) from the River Endrick, Scotland, were studied by light and electron microscopy. Post-mortem examination of a sample of 34 minnows revealed that 50% (n = 17) of the population was infected with 13.

Rodlet cells and the sensory systems in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

This preliminary work was designed to study, using routine procedures for light and transmission electron microscopy, the presence of rodlet cells (RCs) in or near the sensory systems of 12 adult specimens (4.0 +/- 1.2 cm, LT +/- SD) of zebrafish, Danio rerio Hamilton, 1822.

Identification of life cycle stages of Cyathocephalus truncatus (Cestoda: spathebothriidea) using molecular techniques.

Morphological identification of tapeworm species at larval stages (procercoids and cysticercoids) is often difficult because few diagnostic characters are available. In the present study, a molecular approach (sequencing of partial 18S rDNA gene) was used to evaluate the genetic similarity between adult specimens of Cyathocephalus truncatus (Pallas, 1871) (Cestoda: Spathebothriidea) found in fish, its definitive host, and procercoids of the same species recovered from amphipod, Echinogammarus stammeri (Karaman, 1931). Furthermore, cestode cysticercoids of uncertain species were found in the amphipod's hemocoel.