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Mating and the inferred function of the genital system of the nudibranch, Aeolidiella glauca (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia: Aeolidioidea)
Author(s) -
Haase Martin,
Karlsson Anna
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
invertebrate biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.486
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1744-7410
pISSN - 1077-8306
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7410.2000.tb00015.x
Subject(s) - biology , spermatophore , anatomy , nudibranch , hermaphrodite , opisthobranchia , receptacle , female sperm storage , penis , gastropoda , mating , sperm , sex organ , flatworm , zoology , sperm competition , paleontology , botany , genetics
. We describe the genital system of the aeolid nudibranch gastropod Aeolidiella glauca as a basis for our ongoing analysis of the mating system of this hermaphroditic species. In addition we give a short account of its mating behavior. A. glauca has an androdiaulic genital system with a proximally situated semiserial seminal receptacle. There is no bursa copulatrix. After fertilization, eggs pass through six glands, i.e., the capsule gland and the female gland mass which is comprised of five histologically differentiated parts. The prostate is a long, glandular tube. The everted, unarmed penis is very large and bears a series of 3–4 hook‐shaped lobes consisting only of a simple, ciliated epithelium on its ventral side. Their function is unknown. After courtship, which involves moving in circles followed by resting in a head‐to‐head position, reciprocally touching each other with the tentacles, the slugs glide into a position where the everted genital atria are in contact. The huge penes are protruded simultaneously shortly after this contact occurs. Each animal strokes its partner's back with the penis and deposits a spermatophore of undetermined shape onto the partner's notum. Sperm enter the recipient through histolysis. How the sperm find their way to the seminal receptacle is not known.