D. W. T. Crompton - Böcker

Acanthocephalan worms are parasitic throughout their life cycles and the environments they experience are to be found in the bodies of vertebrates, in which they achieve sexual maturity and in the tissues of arthropods, in which they develop. This monograph, first published in 1970, aims to relate present knowledge of acanthocephalan physiology to the physical and biotic factors occurring in the environments occupied at different stages of the life cycle. This theme is illustrated by considering feeding, metabolism and reproduction of adult worms, certain aspects of the physiology of the eggs and developmental stages and the processes of infection of the hosts. The author emphasises the necessity of culturing acanthocephalans in vitro if their biology is to be understood in detail.

This volume was first published in 1985. A knowledge of this phylum of parasitic worms is essential for helminthologists and instructive for all research workers investigating the principles of parasitism. Each of the chapters is written by a specialist on the biology of the Acanthocephala. Systematics, functional morphology, feeding, nutrition, metabolism, reproduction, embryology, development, epizootiology, life-history patterns and population ecology are reviewed and analysed in detail; problems for further investigation are identified. Special features of the book include a taxonomic revision and list of valid species, anatomical illustrations and extensive tables covering morphological terms, host-parasite associations, life-history parameters and reproductive biology. The three indices (parasite, author and subject) and the comprehensive list of over a thousand references help the reader to use this major source of reference on a fascinating group of parasites.