An ultrastructural study of spermatogenesis in the nudibranch molluscSpurilla neapolitana

Abstract

The ultrastructural features of spermatogenesis were investigated in the nudibranch mollusc Spurilla neapolitana. Sperm develop in the proximal half of numerous sac-like acini which are radially arranged within about ten ovotestis lobes. Accessory cells line the inner wall of the testicular portion of each acinus and are connected to developing sperm by numerous desmosomes. Stages of spermatid development have been divided into precup, cup, postcup, and elogate stages depending on the general shape of the nucleus. Nuclear differentiation includes the formation of anterior and posterior nuclear plaques, condensation of chromatin fibrils into nuclear lamellae, the insertion of the developing flagellar axoneme into a shallow, nuclear implantation fossa, and eventual formation of an elongated sperm head with a terminal twist. Spermiogenesis also includes the differentiation of an anterior, perinuclear structure having the characteristics of an acrosome, the appearance of peculiar arrays of ER cisternae, and the fusion of mitochondria into a large mitochondrial derivative which eventually encircles the axoneme, forming a crystalline-like periaxonemal sheath.