Cement glands are one of the most conspicuous and distinctive elements of taxonomic interest in male Acanthocephala. Cement glands vary in shape, number and arrangement in different classes of the taxon. The glands and their products have a fundamental role in the reproductive process. Light and electron microscopy were used to investigate the ultrastructure of the cement apparatus, which includes both cement glands and the cement reservoir, in mature males of Centrorhynchus globocaudatus (Zeder, 1800). Centrorhynchus globocaudatus is an enteric parasite of birds of prey, including Falco tinnunculus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) from the province of Ferrara (northern Italy). The four elongated cement glands of C. globocaudatus are situated posterior to the testes. Sections through the cement glands show each gland is surrounded by a fibrous envelope with an approximate thickness of 0.6 μm. Beneath this envelope is an outer cytoplasmic layer thickness ranging from 22 to 26 μm, which contains a number of nuclei with diameters variable from 20 to 22 μm. The cytoplasmic layer is filled with prominent free ribosomes and many mitochondria with lamellar cristae. Secretory granules, measuring from 1 to 1.3 μm in diameter, are formed within the cytoplasmic layer. The cytoplasmic layer surrounds the luminal area for storage of the cement material in each gland. Cement gland ducts arise from the gland and extend towards a common cement reservoir in close contact with the seminal vesicle and Saefftigen's pouch. Microtubules, large secretory granules and rest of undefined organelles were also observed within the cement reservoir.

Light and electron microscopy were used to study the ultrastructure of the cement apparatus, namely cement glands and cement ducts of mature specimens of the acanthocephalan parasite Pomphorhynchus laevis Müller, 1776, recovered from the digestive tracts of fish Leuciscus cephalus Risso, 1826. In addition, the cement glands of immature P. laevis found within the body cavity of the fish Alburnus alburnus alborella De Filippi, 1844 were examined. In a mature male of P. laevis the 6 cement glands are rounded to oval in shape and each of them has an outer cytoplasmic layer containing nuclei and surrounding a space for storage of the cement material within the gland. The nuclei have an irregular outline and the cytoplasm of the cells contains round, membrane-bound secretory granules approximately 1 μm in diameter. Nuclei surrounded by secretory granules were present inside the gland lumen. Within the gland ducts of mature males, granules were present within the wall thickness and, inside the luminal area, mitochondria were encountered. In contrast, within the cement glands of immature P. laevis there were no secretory granules and the chromatin of the nuclei appeared condensed. The nature of the secretory product of the cement glands was investigated with histological and electrophoretic methods. A protein with molecular weight of 23 kDa was recorded as a major component of cement.