PARASITOLOGY

Males are smaller and possess copulatory aids. The male gonads consist of testes lead-
ing into a tube, the vas efferensand then into the vas deferensending in the male opening.
Female gonads consist of ovaries that open into an oviduct leading into the uterus
where the eggs are stored. The uterus opens into a vagina situated midway along the length
of the female body (see Fig. 3.10).

PLATYHELMINTHS

Ovary

Oviduct

Intestine

Nerve

Uterus ganglion

Protoplasmic part of

muscle cell

Striated part of

muscle cell

Hypodermis

Cuticle

Lateral

excretory cell

Pseudocoel

nSection through main body

Lateroventral lip

Mouth

Papilla

Dorsal lip

nSection through mouth

• Figure 3.9A transverse
  section of a nematode.
  The outer covering
  consists of a multi-layered
  cuticle. Attached to the
  inside of the cuticle are
  a series of muscle cells
  that stretch out into the
  pseudocoelome attached
  to the gut and reproductive
  organs. Running along the
  length of the body is a
  nerve fibre with linked to
  a series of ganglia. There
  is a lateral excretory cell
  along the length of the
  body.

Ejaculatory duct

Testes Vas deferens Seminal vesicle

nMale reproductive system

Ovary Ovijector

Ovary

Uterus Vulva

Spicule

Gubernaculum

nFemale reproductive system

• Figure 3.10In
  nematodes the sexes are
  separate. The male organs
  consist of tubular testes
  linked, via a seminal
  vesicle, to an ejaculatory
  duct that opens into a
  cloaca. Along the cloacal
  opening are a series of
  spicules. The female
  organs consist of a pair of
  ovaries that open into the
  uterus, which has a lateral
  external opening, the
  vulva.