Fine Structure of the Reproductive System of a Frog Lung Fluke. I. Mehlis' Gland and Associated Ducts

Structure and function of the female reproductive ducts of the fish blood-flukeAporocotyle simplexOdhner, 1900 (Digenea: Sanguinicolidae)

“…All these secretory products, including MB of A. simplex, were, however, commonly observed in the lumen of the ootype, and they were all discharged from cytoplasmic openings which were situated throughout most of the length of the ootype. Furthermore, as was the case with the MBsecretion of A. simplex, BURTON (1967) and IRWIN & THREADGOLD (1972) observed MB-and SIsecretion respectively in close contact and associated with a forming egg capsule. These observations suggest that the MB-secretion products of A. simplex are functionally eguivalent to those called MB (BURTON 1967), SI (THREAD GOLD & IRWIN 1970), and Type I secretory products (GRANT & al.…”

“…However, the very position of the openings of the DB cytoplasmic processes in A. simplex, and the observed reaction of the products when being deposited into the lumen of the ootype clearly suggest that, when this information is compared with that from other species, all these types of secretory products may be equivalent (d. Table 1). None of the authors mentioned, however, could observe these secretory products or residue of them in the lumen of the ootype, but BURTON (1967) and hypothesized that the DB-and S2-secretory products respectively obviously dissociate immediately on entering the lumen. In my study it is clearly shown that the DB-secretory products of A.…”

“…The general feature of the DB-product in A. simplex is somewhat different from that of the DB-secretory product as described by BURTON (1967) and from the products secreted from the S2-cells , the cell in S. mansoni (ERASMUS 1973), and from that from the Type II cells of GRANT & ai. (1977).…”

“…The MB-cells are by far the more numerous and their openings were found in the remaining part of the ootype and in the proximal uterus. According to BURTON (1967) the MB-cells appear to be equivalent to the mucous cells described by GONNERT (1962) from F. hepatica. BURTON (1967 suggested that the secretion of the DB-cells has a lubricatory function.…”

“…The distribution of these so-called 'serous' and 'mucous' cells in relation to each other, however, varies from species to species. Hence, in an ultrastructural study, BURTON (1967) referred the two cell types of Mehlis' gland found in Haematoloechus medioplexus STAF-FORD as dense body cells (DB-cells) and membranous body cells (MB-cells) after the characteristic feature of the type of products they synthesized and secreted. In that species the secretory cells are located in the peripherial regions of Mehlis' gland and communicate with the lumen of the ootype and proximal uterus via processes or ducts (BOGITSH 1970).…”