Germ cell origin and spermatogenesis in the Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens

Residual germ cells larger than primary spermatogonia but similar in other respects are found throughout the testis in the walls of the lobules and in the cysts of developing germ cells. There is no evidence for germ cell migration through the testis. Spermatogonia arise in situ from residual cells. Forty‐two chromosomes are found in the spermatogonial cells. Two of these chromosomes are much larger than the others and possibly represent sex chromosomes. The haploid chromosome number as seen in primary spermatocyte cells is twenty‐one. A large ovoid chromosome, considered to be a sex chromosome, lags during the formation of the primary spermatocyte spindle. It divides after the division of the other chromosomes into equal chromosomes which pass to opposite poles of the spindle. The evidence for sex chromosomes as presented here is meagre but is consistent with the evidence from chromosome studies in other teleosts. It has been proposed that sex chromosomes are in a nascent condition and hence are differentiated but little from autosomes and also that the members of the sex chromosome pair are morphologically alike.