A comparative scanning electron microscope study of the teguments of adult male. Schistosoma mansoni, S. margrebowiei and S. leiperi.

Scanning electron microscopy was used in a comparative study of the teguments of adult male Schistosoma mansoni, S. leiperi and S. margrebowiei. The dorsal surface of the teguments of S. leiperi and S. margrebowiei exhibited less spination than that of S. mansoni. The tubercles of S. margrebowiei varied from ellipsoidal to hemispherical while those of S. mansoni were consistently ellipsoidal and divisible morphologically into two types. The dorsal surface of the neck of S. mansoni is traversed by four longitudinal rows of sensory receptors while 2 rows of small tubercles with associated sensory receptors extended along the lateral margin of the neck of S. leiperi.