Scanning electron microscope observations of the frontal papillae and peribuccal cuticle of four species of raillietiellid pentastomids have shown an array of sensilla which are grouped in characteristic patterns. The arrangement of sensilla is remarkably uniform within the species studied and it cannot be used in specific diagnosis. Possible functions are suggested.

This study was based on the experimental exposure of beetles to homologous and heterologous infections of Hymenolepis diminuta and Raillietina cesticillus. The results demonstrated that, for both species over the range of parasite densities employed, the presence of a primary infection had no effect on the establishment success of an homologous challenge infection. The establishment success of R. cesticillus cysticercoids was not affected by the presence of an H. diminuta infection. The existence of an R. cesticillus infection, however, severely reduced the establishment success of an H. diminuta infection. The reduction in H. diminuta establishment was greatest in R. cesticillus infections less than 10 days old. The plausibility of some of the mechanisms that are potentially responsible for the reduction in H. diminuta establishment success is discussed, as is the possible ecological significance of these results.

The biochemical characteristics of phenol oxidase obtained from Penetrocephalus ganapatii have been investigated using manometric and electrophoretic techniques. Phenol oxidase was found to have maximum activity at pH 7·4, the Michaelis constant for dopamine was 189 μM and the enzyme was stable between 20 and 40°C. Potassium cyanide, sodium diethyldithiocarbamate and phenylthiourea strongly suppressed enzyme activity. The Ki values for potassium cyanide, diethyldithiocarbamate and phenylthiourea were 33μM, 700 μM and 938 μM respectively. The properties of soluble and insoluble enzymes to various phenolic substrates are discussed.

The serum from rats infected intraperitoneally (i.p.) and subcutaneously (s.c.) with the tetrathyridia of Mesocestoides corti was analysed for α-amylase, alkaline phosphatase, γ-glutamyltransferase, glucose, corticosterone and total proteins. A histochemical analysis for hepatic alkaline phosphatase was also carried out. A significant decrease in activity of serum alkaline phosphatase was detected in both the i.p. and s.c. infections, whereas a large increase in hepatic alkaline phosphatase was observed in i.p. infections. A significant increase in serum cortiscosterone was found in both the i.p. and s.c. infections. No changes were detected in the other four components. The relevance of these findings is discussed with respect to the host–parasite relationship.

General nutritional effects on female CFLP mice harbouring larval Taenia crassiceps were investigated using groups of mice fed ad libitum on purified diets containing 2%, 4%, 8% and 16% (w/w) protein respectively. When uninfected and infected mice were compared over an experimental period of 20 weeks, it was established that a significantly higher proportion of uninfected mice survived the course of the experiment than infected mice. There was no evidence of the presence of the parasites having any effect on the overall food intake of the mice. Infected mice, however, were found to be significantly heavier, on a fresh weight basis, than their uninfected partners, but the pattern was reversed when the dry weights of mouse carcasses were compared following the removal of parasites. In general, more parasite tissue was recovered from mice feeding on the higher protein diets (8% and 16%).

The worm burden distributions of a macrofilarial nematode, Ochoterenella digiticauda, and a gastroenteric digenean, Mesocoelium monas, were examined in a naturally infected population of Bufo marinus from Jamaica. Both parasite species had over-dispersed distributions which were well described by the negative binomial probability model (k = 0·35 for 0. digiticauda; and k = 0·59 for M. monas). The intensity distributions of the two parasites were uncorrelated: there was no significant association between the intensity (whether absolute or relative) of infection of either parasite in individual hosts. It is suggested that different, and parasite species-specific, factors of the host interaction are involved in generating the separate distributions of the two parasite species.

The modified Kato technique has the advantages of reproducibility, simplicity and economy: the disadvantage is that it cannot be used in conjunction with traditional faecal preservatives. Sodium azide has been evaluated as a preservative for human faeces for subsequent Kato analysis. More than 400 faecal samples (from normal and malnourished children, and from mixed-age participants in a field survey of the Turks and Caicos Islands) were each mixed with 2–5 mg of sodium azide powder and stored in 2 or 4 ml autoanalyser cups at ambient tropical temperature. At intervals up to 30 weeks, aliquots were prepared for Kato analysis. Trichuris trichiura, Ascaris lumbricoides and Necator americanus eggs were well preserved without degenerative or developmental changes in morphology. Quantitative analyses of 18 samples indicated that the mean egg count/sample did not change significantly after storage for 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks in preservative. The use of azide preservative extends the applications of the Kato technique to field and clinical studies in which delays may occur between specimen collection and examination. The direct costs of azide preservation are substantially lower than for traditional methods and the preserved specimens are more compact and resistant to leakage.

The potential of antigenic differences for discriminating pathotypes of the potato cyst nematodes Globodera pallida and G. rostochiensis has been examined by the use of an antiserum raised to a homogenate of potato cyst nematode larvae. Species-specific antigens were detected among reference pathotypes but more variability was detected among field populations, and cluster analysis was used to interpret the precipitation are pattern produced by Laurell crossed-immunoelectrophoresis. A division into species was seen with this analysis but no definite pathotype groupings were detected. Cross-reaction with other cyst-nematode species was limited to general non-specific precipitation. The antigens were all proteinaceous, did not arise from micro-organisms within the cyst and were mainly hydrophilic with an acidic isoelectric point. Peptidase and acid phosphatase activity was detected in some precipitation arcs but this was not species specific.

Nine species of parasitic copepods are reported, with 3 of them being new to science. They are: (1) Chondracanthodes deflexus Wilson from Antimora rostrata Günther, Coryphaenoides (Chalinura) brevibarbis (Goode and Bean), Coryphaenoides (Nematonurus) armatus (Hector), Coryphaenoides (Chalinura) leptolepis (Günther), and Coryphaenoides (Lionurus) carapinus (Goode and Bean); (2) Chondracanthodes radiatus (Müller) from Macrourus berglax Lacepede; (3) Lernaeopodina pectinata sp.nov. from Alepocephalus agassizi (Goode and Bean); (4) Neobrachiella pinguis (Wilson) from Antimora rostrata Günther; (5) Clavella adunca (Strøm) from Macrourus berglax Lacepede; (6) Sphyrion lumpi (Krøyer) from Antimora rostrata Günther; (7) Lophoura gracilis Wilson from Synaphobranchus kaupii Johnson; (8) Lophoura pentaloba sp.nov. from Coryphaenoides (Nematonurus) armatus (Hector) and Nezumia bairdii (Goode and Bean) and (9) Lophoura tetraphylla sp.nov. from Antimora rostrata Günther. The infected fishes were collected with trawls from depths of 828 to 4815 m in the New York Bight and 403 to 1294 m near the Grand Banks (south of Newfoundland).

Surface antigens of Schistosoma haematobium were identified by 125I-surface labelling of schistosomula followed by immunoprecipitation of the solubilized, labelled surfaces. The major antigens, after electrophoresis, formed a continuous smear corresponding to a molecular weight in the range 35–24000; in addition, a 17000 antigen was also identified. These surface antigens, in contrast to somatic antigens, were species-specific, as judged by immunoprecipitation with human anti-S. mansoni serum and serum from mice vaccinated with highly irradiated S. mansoni cercariae. S. haematobium surface antigens, however, were recognized to some extent by serum from mice chronically infected with S. mansoni. It is suggested that this cross-reactivity may reflect the heterologous immunity demonstrated experimentally between these two species, whilst the species-specificity of vaccine sera to surface antigens may mirror the highly specific immunity induced by vaccination.

The participation of products released from Schistosoma mansoni schistosomula (SRP-A) in the IgG antibody response of infected Brown-Norway rats and infected humans has been studied using immunoprecipitation with various antigenic preparations and in in vitro cytotoxicity assays. A large number of SRP-A molecules with a wide range of molecular weights was recognized by infected rat and human sera. Anti-SRP-A antibodies appeared in rat sera from day 28 after infection. In infected humans, a variable pattern of SRP-A recognition was observed between individuals. IgG antibodies obtained by immunization of rats with SRP-A without addition of adjuvants reacted with 3 major schistosomula surface proteins with molecular weights of 38, 32 and 21 kDa. These latter molecules were also revealed strongly by infected rat sera. Moreover, these antibodies were able to kill schistosomula in vitro in the presence of complement or eosinophils.

The fate of 75Se-labelled schistosomula in mice treated at 24 h post-infection with either Ro 11–3128 or oxamniquine, compared to untreated controls, was followed by compressed organ autoradiography. No difference in the total percentage of schistosomula detected as foci was found between the three groups at each sampling time. However, the distribution of schistosomula was altered. In oxamniquine-treated mice there was a delayed migration from the skin relative to controls and fewer parasites in total appeared to reach the lungs. In Ro 11–3128 treated mice very few parasites left the skin. Ro 11–3128 treatment induces resistance to challenge whereas oxamniquine does not. The fate of challenge schistosomula in previously infected Ro 11–3128 treated mice was also compared to that in control mice. There was evidence for delayed or reduced migration from the skin of Ro 11–3128 treated mice. Significant death of challenge parasites occurred in the lungs, or post-lung sites in both control and treated mice. It was not possible to conclude that any of the late attrition was immune-dependent in the treated mice and the results appeared to indicate that a significant fraction of parasite death occurred at the skin stage.

Current models of the regulation of host populations by parasite infection assume that death of a host results in death of all the parasites contained within or on the host. This assumption acts as a density-dependent constraint on parasite population growth and contributes to the stability of the interaction between host and parasite populations. The protozoan Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, a parasite of freshwater fish, is one of a number of pathogens in which the reproductive capacity of an individual is not entirely destroyed by the death of its host. The effect of host death on the reproductive potential of I. multifiliis was investigated with a series of short-term experiments examining (i) the relationship between parasite burden and host mortality, (ii) parasite survival on the host and (iii) the relationship between parasite age and the number of infective stages released/parasite. Results of a series of experimental epidemics in which host numbers were maintained constant showed large oscillations in parasite numbers. Deterministic models ignoring the age structure of the parasite population were unable to reproduce the behaviour observed in the experimental epidemics. Using the results of the short-term experiments, a difference equation model was developed. This model was able to qualitatively reproduce the observed epidemic behaviour.

Myxobolus cyprini has, until now, been considered an ‘organo-cosmopolitan’ parasite of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and less frequently of other carps, producing spores in various organs in small plasmodia and possible in cysts. The present observations of naturally infected common carp fry and two-summer carp have revealed that M. cyprini is a specific muscle parasite, developing intracellularly in the muscle fibres of the skeletal muscle. The sarcoplasm of the infected muscle fibres is filled with developmental stages, followed by spores of M. cyprini, which are held together in a 1–1·5 mm long pseudocyst by the sarcolemma of the muscle fibre. After maturation of the spores and disintegration of the pseudocysts the spores are transported in the bloodstream to different parts of the body where they are retained in the capillaries.

The ability of Eimeria vermiformis, a coccidium which normally parasitizes the mouse, to develop in rats was investigated. The Rowett strain (Lac: RNU) rats were euthymic (rnu/+), treated or untreated with cortisone acetate, and athymic (rnu/rnu). E. vermiformis completed its development only in rnu/rnu rats, which passed small numbers of oocysts capable of sporulating and infecting C57BL/6 mice. In the rnu/+ rats, irrespective of cortisone treatment, development appeared to terminate with the completion of the asexual (schizogonic) stages since no gametocytes were recognized in the tissues and no oocysts were detected in the faeces. The findings are discussed with reference to the factors which govern host specificity.

Evidence exists that lethal activity is associated with extracts from Eimeria tenella-infected caecal tissues. We examined tissues of the small intestine infected with other species of Eimeria for a similar lethal activity. Extracts were prepared from intestinal tissues of chickens infected with either E. acervulina, E. brunetti, E. maxima, E. mitis or E. necatrix. Appropriate control extracts from tissues of non-infected chickens were also prepared. Intravenous injection of the extracts into healthy chickens showed that lethality of infected tissue extracts was higher than control extracts and was independent of the site of infection within the intestine. Comparison of the lethality of caecal extracts from chickens infected with embryo-adapted or parent lines of E. tenella showed that lethality was independent of the recognized pathogenic characteristics of the lines. Also, it was demonstrated that lethal activity is associated with extracts of tissues containing massive numbers of arrested and non-arrested sporozoites and early trophozoites.

Chronic quartan malarial infection has been established in the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchius). Plasniodium brasilianunm from a douroucouli monkey (Aotus trivirgatus) was used to infect splenectomized twin animals, passed to an intact animal, and then to 4 other intact adults, 2 pairs of twins. In 2 of the 4 latter animals there was continuing patency with parasitaemias of ≤0·5% parasitized erythrocytes for 30 weeks. The other 2 had lower initial levels of paraaitaemia; in 1 of these parasitaemias remained low or subpatent. All marmosets developed lymphocytosis. One animal became ill 30 weeks after infection with anaemia, weight loss and mild proteinurea, the other 3 remained well. Histological examination showed minor changes in the kidneys; spleens of infected animals showed marked follicular hyperplasia and phagocytosis of pigment. The livers showed sinusoidal hyper cellularity and pigment deposition and in splenectomized animals, a marked lymphoid follicular hyperplasia in the portal tracts.

An ultrastructural study of numerous serial sections of Plasmodium chabaudi trophozoites at various growth stages, followed by 3-dimensional reconstruction, allowed us to describe more precisely the internalization process of the erythrocytic stroma, both in space and in time. Two endocytotic processes are apparent. (1) Pinocytosis — as soon as the merozoite has become a young trophozoite (ring stage), small double membrane-bound vesicles can be seen budding off around the whole periphery of the parasite. After the inner membrane of the vesicle has disappeared, the contents alter and a pigment crystal appears. (2) Cytostomal system — this phenomenon coexists with, and eventually replaces, pinocytosis. It consists of invagination of the membrane of the parasitophorous vacuole and of the plasmalemma, through a typical cytostome, in order to form a cytostomal vacuole. This extends into a long tube, the cytostomal tube, which eventually digitates. When the tube reaches its maximal size, the cytostome disappears and the tube remains open to the erythrocytic stroma by a simple aperture. A new cytostome can form elsewhere on the parasite surface and another tube can extend. Two or three such tubes can coexist in a trophozoite although only one cytostome is functional at one time. At the end of the tubes vesicles bud off, the contents of which become modified as described previously. The residual product of haemoglobin degradation is the malarial pigment.

Interest in the long-term low temperature preservation of malaria parasites was initiated by Coggeshall's (1939) demonstration that the intra-erythrocytic stages could survive storage at −76°C for 70 days. Numerous studies have subsequently been published in which a variety of techniques have been used. In addition, several reviews have included sections on the cryopreservation of malaria, the most recent being by James (1980), Leef, Hollingdale, & Beaudoin (1981), Nguyen-Dinh, Chemangey-Masaba, Spencer, Campbell, Chin & Collins (1981) and a WHO memorandum (1981). Most of these reports and reviews have dealt with the problems of cryopreserving malaria parasites from a parasitological viewpoint. In an attempt to provide a cryobiologically orientated review of value both to cryobiologists and practicing parasitologists the published technical reports have been summarized in chronological order in Tables 1 and 2, and the important cryobiological parameters are discussed.