Abstract
A histochemical study of the progenetic trematode Alloglossidium renale has demonstrated the absence of any secreted material between the adult worm and the host (freshwater shrimp) antennal gland tubules. Host tissue is affected only by the compression, abrasion, and ingestion by the parasite, and host tubule cells near the worm have the same staining patterns as those distant from the parasite. The trematode sometimes dies within the host, leaving a necrotic mass whose histochemical staining differs significantly from the living organism. In the necrotic mass, the only recognizable features were the ova and the vitellarium, which atrophied and resulted in tyrosine-positive staining within the mass. A melanin reaction was not observed in the host using a specialized ferro-ferricyanide stain. The only apparent host response to infection was a layer of damaged squamous host cells adhering to the necrotic worm. The results confirm benign host-parasite effects and a highly evolved relationship between the host and parasite, perhaps bordering on commensalism.
Highlights
Alloglossidium renale is a progenetic trematode that matures within the antennal glands of the grass shrimps Palaemonetes kadiakensis and P. paludosus [1, 2]
In south Alabama, A. renale infects the antennal glands of the freshwater shrimp P. kadiakensis [8], which is a common species of shrimp found throughout south Alabama’s rivers and streams [9]
No trace of a metacercarial cyst wall was observed between the host antennal gland tubules and the integument of the parasite
Summary
Alloglossidium renale is a progenetic trematode that matures within the antennal glands of the grass shrimps Palaemonetes kadiakensis and P. paludosus [1, 2]. The cercariae bore into the host and develop within the antennal gland, where they mature to a progenetic metacercaria stage [6, 10]. Earlier it was reported that a host reaction was not observable with sectioned material from plastic-embedded specimens [8]. This current study has used a variety of histochemical stains to examine the host tissue, mature parasite, and necrotic parasite (after the death of the trematode) and reports the changes that occur during the host-parasite relationship upon the senescence of the worm
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