Abstract
The structure of vasa deferentia and spermatophores has been described in Parapenaeopsis stylifera. The male reproductive system consists of two symmetrical halves; each half bears testis, vas deferens and an ejaculatory duct. Each testis comprised of two to three short, broad and milky white lobes; vas deferens is divisible into proximal, medial and distal parts. The proximal vas deferens (PVD) is a convoluted mass made up of an extremely long and thin tube having elongated rod like spermatozoa. The median vas deferens (MVD) is broad, straight, somewhat flattened and bears many membranous folds internally and contained complete spermatophores; the distal vas deferens (DVD) is straight and cylindrical tube. The ejaculatory duct is a simple dilation with a tubular basal part tapered posteriorly for extrusion of spermatophores. The spermatophores are minute, spindle shaped bodies present in large numbers in each ejaculatory duct; the size varied from 0.148 to 0.161 mm; each spermatophore bears six to eight rows of regularly arranged spermatozoa. Histological studies reveal no internal partitioning of either vas deferens or ejaculatory duct. Key words: Parapenaeopsis stylifer, vasa deferentia, spermatophore.
Highlights
Parapenaeopsis stylifera is purely a littoral species
The studies on the male reproductive organs and structure and formation of spermatophores have been undertaken in many penaeid genera of commercial importance like Fenneropenaeus (Penaeus) (King, 1948; Tirmizi, 1958; Subrahmanyam, 1965; Tuma, 1967; Tirmizi and Khan, 1970; Huq, 1981; Chen, 1986; Sultana, 1986; Champion, 1987); Penaeus (Motoh, 1981), Melicertus (Penaeus) (Malek and Bawab, 1974a, 1974b), Litopenaeus (Penaeus) and Farfantepenaeus (Penaeus) (Leung and Lawrence, 1987; Rao et al, 1990; Bauer and Cash, 1991; Chow et al, 1991), Trachypenaeus similes (Raymond et al, 1993), Sicyonia disdorsalis (Jeri, 1998) and Aristeus antennatus (Demestre and Fortuno, 1992), Astacus leptodactylus (Erkan et al, 2009; Mirheydari et al, 2012), red claw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus
The male reproductive system (Figures 1A and 2A) consists of two halves; each half is comprised of testis, vas deferens and ejaculatory duct (Figures 1A, 2A and 2D)
Summary
Parapenaeopsis stylifera is purely a littoral species. Its distribution is in Indo-west Pacific (Holthuis, 1980). It supports a major fishery in Pakistan and India. From Pakistani waters, 25 species and seven genera of family Penaeidae have been recorded (Kazmi, 2003), among which only 12 species have commercial significance (Majid, 1988); namely, Marsupenaeus japonicus, Penaeus monodon, P. semisulcatus, Fenneropenaeus indicus, F. merguiensis, F. penicillatus, Metapenaeus affinis, M. monocers, M. stebbingi, Parapenaeopsis hardwickii, P. sculptilis and P. stylifera.
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