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Sperm storage in the spermatheca of the red‐back salamander, Plethodon cinereus (Amphibia: Plethodontidae)
Author(s) -
Sever David M.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of morphology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.652
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1097-4687
pISSN - 0362-2525
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4687(199711)234:2<131::aid-jmor2>3.0.co;2-f
Subject(s) - spermatheca , biology , sperm , salamander , hibernation (computing) , zoology , female sperm storage , anatomy , mating , caudata , andrology , botany , sperm competition , medicine , state (computer science) , algorithm , computer science
In northern Indiana, the mating season of Plethodon cinereus occurs after hibernation from March until June, when oviposition begins. During the mating season, a female stores sperm in its spermatheca, a compound tubular gland in the roof of the cloaca. The apical cytoplasm of the spermathecal epithelium is filled with large secretory vacuoles whose product is released while sperm are stored. Females induced to oviposit in June and July by injections of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) still retain much sperm 1 month after oviposition, but secretory vacuoles are absent in all specimens sacrificed in July and August. Instead, some sperm are embedded in the spermathecal epithelium with resultant spermiophagy involving lysosomes. A female sacrificed in September 2 months after oviposition possesses scant sperm, but spermiophagy alone does not seem extensive enough to account for the decrease in sperm numbers. Females sacrificed in October prior to hibernation lack sperm in their spermathecae; some secretory vacuoles are present, but they are not as numerous or as enlarged as in specimens collected in March and May. Inter‐ and intrafamilial differences in the cytology of sperm storage may not be phyletically informative at the family level but related to species‐specific reproductive adaptations. J. Morphol. 234: 131–146, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.