| Author Title Journal |
Hooge MD, Tyler S (1999) Body-wall musculature of Praeconvoluta tornuva, n. sp. (Acoela, Platyhelminthes) and the use of muscle patterns in taxonomy. Invertebrate Biology 118: 8-15 [-17] |
Abstract / Notes
Musculature of lower worms such as the acoel turbellarians can be readily revealed with fluorescence microscopy and phalloidin-linked fluorescent dyes. In a new species of acoel, the meshwork of body-wall muscles could be resolved using BODIPY 558/568 phalloidin into four sets of fibers: (1) circular muscles that encircle the body; (2) longitudinal muscles, most of which cross over the body midline, having longitudinal orientation only in the anterior third of the body and bending medially to the opposite lateral side of the body more posteriorly; (3) a few diagonal muscles on the anterior dorsal body wall; and (4) special muscles that fan from pores (mouth and genital pore). Compared to patterns of musculature in other acoels that have been studied, that of this new species shows characters that link it with species of the Convolutidae as distinct from other acoel groups and characters that appear to be specific to it at the genus or species level. Such characters could well serve as diagnostic features of taxa of the acoels, which, as soft-bodied worms, are otherwise rather poor in distinctive features.
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