Anatomy of the Tantulocarida: first results obtained using TEM and CLSM. Part I: tantulus larva

Abstract

The morphology of Tantulocarida, a group of minutely sized ectoparasitic Crustacea, is described here using for the first time transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). This enabled a detailed analysis of their internal anatomy to a level of detail not possible with previous light microscopic investigations. We studied the infective stage, the tantulus larva, attached on the crustacean host in two species, Arcticotantulus pertzovi and Microdajus tchesunovi, and put special emphasis on cuticular structures, muscles, adhesive glands used in attachment, sensory and nervous systems, and on the organs used in obtaining nutrients from the host. This allowed description of structures that have remained enigmatic or unknown until now. A doubly folded cuticular attachment disc is located at the anterior-ventral part of the cephalon and used for gluing the larva to the host surface with a cement substance released under the disc. Four cuticular canals run from a cement gland, located ventrally in the cephalon, and enter an unpaired, cuticular proboscis. The proboscis can be protruded outside through a separate opening above the mouth and is used for releasing cement. An unpaired and anteriorly completely solid cuticular stylet is located centrally in the cephalon and is used only for making a 1-μm-diameter hole in the host cuticle, through which passes a rootlet system used for obtaining nutrients. The rootlet system is a direct extension of the anterior gut of the tantulus, but inside the host, it consists of cuticle only. Several muscular systems seem to degenerate very quickly after the tantulus has settled on the host. The central nervous system is reduced to an absolute minimum in terms of both cell size and number. We discuss the morphology of the tantulus in light of the Tantulocarida being a sister group to the Thecostraca or even nested within that taxon.