A comparative morphological study of the testes, spermatogenesis, and spermatozoa in two nemertean species, Callinera sp. and Parahubrechtia sp. (Palaeonemertea, Tubulanidae)

Abstract

The testis morphology, spermatogenesis, and the spermatozoon structure in two palaeonemerteans, Callinera sp. and Parahubrechtia sp., have been examined by light, laser confocal, and electron microscopy. Early spermatogenesis is quite similar between the two species. The similarities include the formation of the initial proacrosomal vesicle at the primary spermatocyte stage, the presence of electron-dense non-membranous substance around the centrioles in spermatogonia and spermatocytes, and the occurrence of lipid droplets at those stages. However, some differences in the process of acrosome formation during spermiogenesis were also found. In Callinera sp., a spherical acrosomal vesicle (rounded in the sections) transforms into a convex disk structure (arc-shaped in the longitudinal sections) in the developing posterior part of the spermatid and then migrates anteriorly; in Parahubrechtia sp., a rounded acrosomal vesicle migrates towards the apex of the cell where it is transformed into the arc-shaped structure. Both species have spermatozoa of a primitive type, i.e., with a small acrosomal complex, a rounded nucleus, a short mid-piece, and a posteriorly oriented flagellum. Nevertheless, some modifications in the sperm organization such as the asymmetric location of the acrosomal complex and mid-piece were recorded. It is possible that such modifications are synapomorphic for palaeonemerteans. In Callinera sp., the mid-piece contains 2–4 mitochondria, while Parahubrechtia sp. has only one ring-shaped but unclosed mitochondrion. The presence of several mitochondria in Callinera sp. may be regarded as a result of the so-called ‘progenetic spermatogenesis’.