Morphology of gametes in five species of far-eastern chitons

Emergence, development, and maturity of the gonad of two species of chitons "sea cockroach" (Mollusca: Polyplacophora) through the early life stages

This study describes and recognises, using histological and microscopical examinations on a morphometrical basis, several gonad traits through the early life stages of Chiton articulatus and C. albolineatus. Gonadal ontogenesis, gonad development stages, sexual differentiation, onset of the first sexual maturity, and growth sequences or "early life stages" were determined. In addition, allometry between lengths and body weight pooled for both sexes per each chiton were calculated using equation Y = aX(b) . A total of 125 chitons (4≤TL≤40 mm, in total length "TL") were used. All allometric relations showed a strong positive correlation (r), close to 1, with b-values above three, indicating an isometric growth. Gonadal ontogenesis and gonad development stages were categorised into three periods ("Pw" without gonad, "Pe" gonad emergence, and "Pf" gonadal sac formed) and four stages ("S0" gametocytogenesis, "S1" gametogenesis, "S2" mature, and "S3" spawning), respectively. Compound digital images were attained for each process. Periods and stages are overlapped among them and between species, with the following overall confidence intervals in TL: Pw 6.13-14.32 mm, Pe 10.32-16.93 mm, Pf 12.99-25.01 mm, S0 16.08-24.34 mm (females) and 19.51-26.60 mm (males), S1 27.15-35.63 mm (females) and 23.45-32.27 mm (males), S2 24.48-40.24 mm (females) and 25.45-32.87 mm (males). Sexual differentiation (in S0) of both chitons occurs first as a female then as a male; although, males reach the onset of the first sexual maturity earlier than females, thus for C. articulatus males at 17 mm and females at 32 mm, and for C. albolineatus males at 23.5 mm and females at 28 mm, all in TL. Four early life stages (i.e., subjuvenile, juvenile, subadult, and adult) are described and proposed to distinguish growth sequences. Our results may be useful to diverse disciplines, from developmental biology to fisheries management.

Fertilization in the white chiton, Stenosemus albus, with implications for its phylogenetic position

Gamete structure and fertilization biology of the white chiton, Stenosemus albus (L., 1767), were studied with light and electron microscopy. Sperm structure was found to be similar to other Chitonina, but acrosomes are homogeneous in this species, like those of Chaetopleura apiculata (Say in Conrad, 1834). The egg of S. albus is covered by long spines with hooked tips. The bases of spines are perforated along their perimeters by a series of pores that provide sperm with direct access to the vitelline layer. This feature appears to be plesiomorphic and characterizes also Chaetopleura but not most Chitonina, which have a continuous dense layer overlying the hull. Beneath the vitelline layer, the egg membrane is formed into a series of cups with raised edges elaborated into microvilli that coincide with the bases of hull spines. Free-spawned sperm of S. albus were able to find the egg and penetrate a pore in the hull within 20 s. Evidence presented here, and previously, indicates that S. albus shares a number of key characters in common with Callochitonidae, which is a basal family within Chitonida. Taken together, the evidence suggests that Stenosemus belongs to a basal taxon within Chitonina, outside the Ischnochitoninae, in which it is currently placed.

On fertilization in Chaetopleura apiculata and selected Chitonida

Early events of fertilization are described in Chaetopleura apiculata and other selected Chitonida. C. apiculata egg hulls are elaborated into multi-branched spines with interlocking polygonal bases. Around the perimeter of each base are a series of open pores, ranging in size from 0.1-0.5 microm, which permit sperm direct access to the vitelline layer. In Callochitonidae (Chitonida) even larger pores occur in egg jelly coats, but this is considered to be the plesiomorphic condition, found also in Lepidopleurida such as Deshayesiella curvata. Other Chitonina, such as Rhyssoplax tulipa and Acanthopleura granulata, have a continuous outer dense layer that lacks pores and must be digested by penetrating sperm. Fertilization in Chitonida is unique and involves injection of chromatin into the egg via a narrow tubular nuclear extension that appears to exclude other sperm organelles, including mitochondria, centrioles, and flagellum. New evidence from studies of fertilization in Mopalia muscosa (Chitonida: Acanthochitonina) supports this hypothesis. This type of fertilization implies maternal inheritance of both mitochondria and centrioles, which is highly unusual, because in most animals one sperm centriole assists movements of pronuclei and regulates organization of the mitotic spindle. This mechanism of fertilization is defined by a series of apomorphic characters that unify the order Chitonida.