Observations on Crystalloid Bodies in the Pseudocoelom of Eutobrilus heptapapillatus

Eutobrilus heptapapillatus, found in a number of different sites at the mouth of the River Murray in South Australia, were examined under light and electron microscopes. The pseudocoeloms of these nematodes often contained oval crystalloid bodies containing carbohydrate, sulfur, phosphorus, and lipid. The bodies varied considerably in size up to a maximum of 10 mum long. The precise function of these crytalloids remains unknown. Nematodes having these crystalloids often also contained numerous small regular densely staining particles, about 20 nm d and occurring throughout the nematode's body.