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Comparative ultrastructural studies on scleractinian spermatozoa (Cnidaria, Anthozoa)

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Summary

The ultrastructural comparison of spermatozoa from eight scleractinian coral species shows a cytological diversity similar to the one known for the entire Anthozoa. Scleractinian spermatozoa are of compact shape with no strong demarcation between the sperm head and the middle piece. A comparison of the nuclear shape, as well as of the anterior structures of the proximal centriole, allow the description of different types of sperms in this group. Sperms with a spherical, pentagonally shaped or a conical and hereof derived nucleus can be distinguished. While correlations between sperm morphology and sexual characteristics can be seen, with one exception, in gonochoristic corals with a single reproductive cycle per year, no common sperm morphology can be described for hermaphroditic corals with a yearly reproductive cycle. Besides the centriolar complex which seems to be similar in all Scleractinia, a taxon-specific morphology of spermatozoa was only observed at the specific and generic level. As far as phylogenetic aspects are concerned, the almost identical arrangement of the centrioles and the intercentriolar connective strand in all examined Scleractina and Corrallimorpharia underscores the sister-group relationship of these two groups. Spermatozoa with a conical nucleus, a single basal indentation and a basal plate are considered to characterize the stem species of the Madreporaria.

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  1. Zoologisches Institut, Universität Wien, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090, Wien, Austria

    Sascha C. C. Steiner

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  1. Sascha C. C. Steiner
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Steiner, S.C.C. Comparative ultrastructural studies on scleractinian spermatozoa (Cnidaria, Anthozoa). Zoomorphology 113, 129–136 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00403090

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00403090

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