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Gonadal morphology in the marine snail Tegula patagonica (Vetigastropoda: Tegulidae) from the intertidal area, in Patagonia, Argentina

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Abstract

The morphological characterisation of the gonadal tissue and reproductive seasonality of Tegula patagonica (d’ Orbigny, 1835 in d’ Orbigny 1834–1847) were determined based on monthly samples collected from a population in San José Gulf (Patagonia, Argentina), from July 2006 to August 2007. Histological techniques were used to describe the male and female gonads, and their gametogenic seasonality. Males and females show different stages of gametogenesis through a trabecular arrangement along the gonad. The trabeculae support the germinal cells, and connect the digestive gland to the gonad, bringing nutrients to the gametes. Gametogenesis, gonad maturation, and spawning occur throughout the year, and one major spawning event was identified, happening from spring to autumn. This species behaves as a partial spawner. Growth and resorption of oocytes were observed throughout the study period. Maturation and releasing of oocytes seem to be related to seasonal temperature variations. An intersexuality case was reported for the first in this species, as the presence of oocytes in male testicular tissue.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Pablo Penchaszadeh for the access to the samples and Javier Chazarreta for his valuable help in the statistics analysis. VLDS did this work with a scholarship from Universidad de Buenos Aires, and JG is a member of research career of CONICET. We thank the reviewers for their thoughtful comments that improve this manuscript. Studies have been conducted in accordance with institutional and national guidelines concerning the use of animals in research and sampling.

Funding

This work was partially funded by grants UBACyT X008.

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  1. Departamento de Biodiversidad Y Biología Experimental (DBBE), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria Pab. II, C1428EHA, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Victoria Luciana Di Stefano & Juliana Giménez

  2. Instituto de Biodiversidad Y Biología Experimental Y Aplicada (IBBEA), CONICET-UBA, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria Pab. II, C1428EHA, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Juliana Giménez

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  1. Victoria Luciana Di Stefano
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Correspondence to Juliana Giménez.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed by the authors.

Sampling and field studies

All necessary permits for sampling and observational field studies have been obtained by the authors from the competent authorities and are mentioned in the “Acknowledgements”.

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Project coordination JG. In situ data collection and histological techniques VDS and JG. Analytical tools and visualisation VDS. Writing—original draft VDS. Writing—review and editing VDS, JG.

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Communicated by C. Chen

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Di Stefano, V.L., Giménez, J. Gonadal morphology in the marine snail Tegula patagonica (Vetigastropoda: Tegulidae) from the intertidal area, in Patagonia, Argentina. Mar. Biodivers. 52, 6 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-021-01248-y

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