Comparative Morphology of Four Genera of Trypanosomatidae*

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Abstract
SYNOPSIS. The morphology of 4 genera of the family Trypanosomatidae has been studied with particular reference to the contractile vacuole, reservoir, flagellum, undulating membrane, kinetoplast, and nucleus. Both the contractile vacuole and reservoir have been found in all species examined. Four morphological types of culture forms are described with special reference to these structures: (1), the Crithidia fasciculata type which is short and membraneless with a rounded posterior end, truncate anterior end and a well developed reservoir; (2) the Herpetomonas muscarum type with no undulating membrane, a truncate posterior end, a rounded anterior end and a reservoir which varies in length from about 1/6 of the length of the body to the full length of the body; (3) the Leishmania type with no undulating membrane, a pointed posterior end, an asymmetrical anterior end and a short reservoir which remains constant in size; and (4), the short‐membraned type exemplified by Trypanosoma cruzi, with a pointed posterior end, a short reservoir near the middle of the body and the flagellum attached to the body along a portion of its length. This last form is derived from the blood stream morphology as exemplified by Trypanosoma lewisi in the rat by a shifting of the kinetoplast, flagellum, reservoir and contractile vacuole along the surface of the body from a position posterior to a position anterior to the nucleus.