ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDIES ON BODY WALL AND FEEDING APPARATUS OF LONGIDORUS-MACROSOMA

The body cuticle, epidermis and epidermal body pores, body musculature, stomatal wall, odontostyle, stylet protractor muscles, stylet retractor muscles, four spherical structures and the oesophagus are described from and illustrated with electron micrographs of ultrathin sections. The oesophago-intestinal junction is described from paraffin sections. Seven layers of the cuticle are described and micrographed. An infracuticular layer exists in the anterior part of the body which intermingles directly with layer 6 of the cuticle. The body of each lateral epidermal organ is completely embedded in one of the lateral chords, leading to a duct that opens exteriorly through a cuticular pore. The body musculature is of the polymyarian and coelomyarian type. A system of electron-dense structures is present in the contractile part of each muscle cell. The stomatal wall and the odontostyle do not differ much from those of X. index. The stylet protractor muscles do not merge with the tissue surrounding the stoma at any level. Four spherical bodies exist outside the protractor muscles at the base of the odontostyle. Five glands open into the lumen of the basal part of the oesophagus through cuticularized outlets. No nuclei were traced for the last pair of laterosubventral glands. © 1969 BRILL.