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The spermatozoon of Oikopleura dioica Fol (Larvacea, Tunicata)

Cell and Tissue Research volume 191, pages 27–37 (1978)Cite this article

Summary

The spermatozoon of Oikopleura dioica is about 30 μm long, with a spherical head, about 1 μm wide, a 3 μm long and 1 μm wide midpiece, and a 25 μm long tail with a tapered end piece. The head contains a nucleus with the chromatin volume limited to about 0.1 μm3. A small acrosome is found in an anterior inpocketing, and a flagellar basal body in a posterior inpocketing of the nucleus. The midpiece contains a single mitochondrion with the flagellar axoneme embedded in a groove along its medial surface. The flagellar axoneme has the typical 9 + 2 substructure, and the basal body the typical 9+0 substructure. A second centriole and special anchoring fibres are absent.

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Affiliations

  1. Institute of Anatomy, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Per R. Flood

  2. Wenner-Gren Institute, University of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

    Björn A. Afzelius

Authors
  1. Per R. Flood
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  2. Björn A. Afzelius
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Flood, P.R., Afzelius, B.A. The spermatozoon of Oikopleura dioica Fol (Larvacea, Tunicata). Cell Tissue Res. 191, 27–37 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00223213

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00223213

Key words

  • Spermatozoon
  • Oikopleura dioica
  • Electron microscopy