Moll J., Avenant-Oldewage A. 2017. Morphology of the digestive system of Lamproglena clariae Fryer, 1956 (Crustacea: Copepoda), a gill parasite of African catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) // Invertebrate Zoology. Vol.14. No.1: 45–52 [in English].

Department of Zoology, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006, Johannesburg, South Africa. E-mails: januscha2205@gmail.com aoldewage@uj.ac.za

ABSTRACT: Lamproglena clariae has a tube-like digestive system, which consists of a foregut, an extensive midgut and a very short hindgut. The oesophagus is connected to the midgut via a funnel-like structure. The midgut can be divided into three zones equipped for digestion and absorption and haemolysed blood occurred in the digestive tract, confirming that L. clariae feeds on the host fish’s blood. A peritrophic membrane and faecal pellet formation was reported for the first time in this genus.

doi: 10.15298/invertzool.14.1.07

KEY WORDS: African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, Copepoda, Lernaeidae, fish parasite, peritrophic membrane.

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