Asymmetric Waveforms in Echinoderm Sperm Flagella

Abstract

1.Dark-field, multiple-exposure photographs of live spermatozoa of a number of echinoderms were analysed. 2. Bends develop at the base in pairs, as they do in flagella with symmetrical waveforms. However, the angles of these bends do not cancel, so that microtubular sliding-of up to over 50% of that associated with bend propagation-is transferred distally. This sliding implies that (a) microtubules are not rigidly cross-linked within straight regions, and (b) bends can propagate normally in spite of appreciable extrinsic microtubular sliding. 3. Both the sperm head and the asymmetry of the waveform appear to affect the swim path of a spermatozoon.