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Sperm ultrastructure of three Syllinae (Annelida, Phyllodocida) species with considerations on syllid phylogeny and Syllis vittata reproductive biology

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Abstract

Phylogeny of Syllidae is under debate due to new studies based on molecular and morphological data. The noticeable taxonomic diversity of syllids (about 700 listed species) is also mirrored in the array of reproductive strategies as well as in sperm morphology, counting a display of forms already supposed to reflect phylogenetic relationships between the species. The sperm ultrastructure of Syllis gerlachi, S. prolifera and S. vittata is herein presented and compared to the Syllinae species studied previously. Moreover, the egg structure and the gamete allocation within stolons of S. vittata are particularly investigated. Both male germinal cells at different level of maturation and oocytes were found in the same individual of S. vittata, suggesting simultaneous hermaphroditism. The ultrastructural analysis revealed that the observed spermatozoa belong to the ect-aquasperm type resembling those of the similar studied species (Syllis sp., S. pigmentata and S. krohni). Differences in the acrosome structure and nucleus shape are in accordance with a recent phylogenetic reconstruction and suggest a trend in the evolution of spermatozoa in Syllinae toward the development of the apical part. However, further molecular and ultrastructural analyses are needed to support this hypothesis. This is the first record of simultaneous hermaphroditism within Syllinae.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Prof. Thomas Bartolomaeus and the anonymous Referees for valuable comments. Thanks to Alessandra Borghini for technical support. The work of the authors LM and AG was financed by the Project ACTIBIOMAR (http://www.actibiomar.it) granted by the Apulia Region and carried out within the MARBEF Network of Excellence which is funded in the Community’s Sixth Framework Programme (Contract no. GOCE-CT-2003-505446), the E.U. Integrated Project SESAME and the CMCC (Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici). The research of the other authors was supported by grants from the Italian Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica (Scientific Research Ateneo of Bari University).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali, Università del Salento, CoNISMa, Via Lecce-Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy

    Luigi Musco & Adriana Giangrande

  2. Dipartimento di Biologia Animale ed Ambientale, Università di Bari, Via Orabona, 70125, Bari, Italy

    Elena Lepore, Miriam Gherardi, Margherita Sciscioli & Maria Mercurio

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  1. Luigi Musco
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  2. Elena Lepore
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  3. Miriam Gherardi
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  4. Margherita Sciscioli
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  5. Maria Mercurio
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  6. Adriana Giangrande
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Correspondence to Luigi Musco.

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Communicated by T. Bartolomaeus.

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Musco, L., Lepore, E., Gherardi, M. et al. Sperm ultrastructure of three Syllinae (Annelida, Phyllodocida) species with considerations on syllid phylogeny and Syllis vittata reproductive biology. Zoomorphology 129, 133–139 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-010-0106-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-010-0106-8

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