Abstract
Histological analysis revealed three different stages in the development of ovarian follicles of Chthonerpeton indistinctum. These stages are identified by (1) location of the oocyte in the ovary wall, (2) oocyte morphology and staining characteristics, (3) development of the zona pellucida, and (4) orga- nization of the follicular layer. Atretic follicles and corpora lutea also were found. Fat bodies are composed of well-developed adipose tissue. The caecilian family Typhlonectidae in- cludes 19 aquatic, viviparous species. Aside from Taylor's monograph on Gymno- phiona (1968) and the work done on Typh- lonectes compressicauda by Exbrayat (1983), Exbrayat and Collenot (1983), Exbrayat et al. (1981, 1982) and Delsol et al. (1981), little information is available on the re- productive biology of this family. Lieber- man (1939) and Barrio (1969) described some aspects of the reproductive behavior of Chthonerpeton indistinctum (Reinhardt and Lutken, 1862). Histological aspects of the oviducts of this species were studied by Welsch et al. (1977), and de Sa and Berois (1986) studied the spermatogenesis. Ovar- ian morphology and histology were de- scribed by Wake (1968, 1977) for several species of caecilians, but histological data for Chthonerpeton were not included. Clas- sification of ovarian eggs in caecilians has been based on egg sizes (Wake, 1977; Ex- brayat and Collenot, 1983). Review papers dealing with the ovary of nonmammalian vertebrates, such as those in the volume by Jones (1978) and Wallace (1983), base their presentations on the am- phibian ovary from work done on anurans or urodeles only. In this paper, we present a histological analysis of the ovary and fat bodies of C. indistinctum. It was found that
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