ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine the morphometrical characteristics of the larval hooks of Echinococcus granulosus in Turkey. The number of rostellar hooks (NH) and the total length of long blades, length of the blade of the long hooks, the total length of small blades and the length of the blade of the small hooks were measured in sheep and cattle isolates. The principal component and discriminant function analyses were used to analyze the data. Rostellar structure of protoscoleces was very similar in the sheep and cattle samples. According to the correlation matrix, the hook number and the hook length was negatively correlated. However, the correlation between the hook lengths was positive. It was found that the morphometric characteristics of the samples from the sheep and cattle closely resembled each other.

Keywords: Echinococcus granulosus, protoscoleces, rostellar morphometry