Morphological and histophathological studies of Acanthocephalus dirus infection in internal organ of Caranx ignobilis

Abstract

Adult worms of Acanthocephalus dirus possessed a proboscis which is long, cylindrical with a uniform width measuring up to 0.42±0.02 (0.37-0.48) mm in length and 0.13±0.02 (0.07-0.16) mm in width. Scanning electron microscopy [SEM] photographs were revealed that the proboscis hooks large, uniform size (15 rows of 13 hooks each) with a row of longer hooks at the base. Histopathological study revealed that the fish intestinal tissues totally destroyed the ultrastructure of the infected intestinal tissues, such as mucosal epithelium, stratum granulosum, lamina propria, muscular and serosa of the wall of the intestine forming a tunnel surrounded with collagenous fibers and granulocytes. Inflammation, granular cells formation, connective tissue proliferation was associated with the host immune madulation of the infected intestine.