A Morphological and Histochemical Study of the Oocytes of the Fish, Ophiocephalus punctatus, with particular Reference to Lipids

Abstract

ABSTRACT The cytoplasmic inclusions of the growing oocytes of the fish, Ophiocephalus punctatus, have been studied both morphologically and histochemically. It has been observed that the non-yolky oocytes of early stages consist of granules of two types, namely the mitochondria and the lipid granules of first category (L1). The mitochondria are smaller granules, and they are found to be protein in nature with traces of lipids. The bigger granules (L1) consist of phospholipids only; they correspond to the so-called ‘Golgi bodies’ of earlier workers on fish oocytes. The yolk found in the late oocytes is of two types. The first type of yolk globules, which appear with the approach of the breeding season, consist of lipids only, and have been described as lipid bodies of the second category (L2). At first they are spheres consisting of phospholipids and triglycerides, but in the mature eggs they are transformed into big fat globules containing triglycerides only. The second type of yolk, which appears later, is in the form of spheres, rich in proteins and lipoproteins. Lastly there is ‘vacuolar yolk’, rich in carbohydrates and proteins; this develops in vacuoles.