CYCLIC CHANGES IN THE GONAD OF THE AMERICAN OYSTER, CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA (GMELIN)

Abstract

Cyclic changes in the gonad of Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin), a dioecious, oviparous lamellibranch, are described as they occurred toward the most northerly limit of the range, Malpeque Bay, P.E.I., Canada, during 1961 and 1962. The gonad, composed of right and left gonadal lobes lying immediately beneath the mantle, consists of extensively branched follicles comprising the outer margin of the visceral mass. The follicles open into peripherally located ducts which lead into paired gonoducts terminating in the suprabranchial chamber. During the fall and winter the germinal epithelium is in an indifferent or inactive state. The sex for the current season is distinguishable when proliferation commences in May. Maximum gonadal development occurs in late June or early July as determined by comparison of gonadal width to body width in mid-transverse sections. Primary oocytes are initially distinguishable from oogonia by the presence of a distinct nucleolus, and later by an amphinucleolus consisting of a plasmosome and a karyosome. Seasonal growth of the primary oocyte was followed by a planimetry method using measurements of total area and nuclear area from prepared sections. The spindle for the first meiotic division is established immediately on rupture of the oocyte from the follicular wall. Spermatogenesis and spermiogenesis are completed within the follicle. Following spawning, amoebocytes infiltrate the follicles and interfollicular connective tissue to phagocytize unspawned gametes. By late October the follicles of both male and female consist of a low germinal epithelium and a few unresorbed gametes, and remain inactive until proliferation the following spring.