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Cyclical Changes in the Ovary of the Hagfish Eptatretus burgeri (Cyclostomata)
Author(s) -
Patzner Robert A.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
acta zoologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.414
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1463-6395
pISSN - 0001-7272
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-6395.1978.tb00111.x
Subject(s) - hagfish , biology , ovary , medicine , embryo , endocrinology , zoology , anatomy , andrology , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , vertebrate , gene
Abstract The development of eggs and the degeneration of ovulated follicles in Eptatretus burgeri was studied over a period of one year. It was found that small resting eggs with a diameter of about 1.5 mm continue to grow in November. By the spawning season in October of the following year, the follicles attain a length of about 24 mm. Only one fertilized egg containing an embryo of 7.5 mm length was obtained. The ratio of males to females was found to vary throughout the year. The annual increase of body length in correlation to ovarian development in the hagfish is calculated to be 4 to 5 cm.