Observations on Variations in the Male Sex Characters and Their Relation to the Androgenic Gland in the Shrimp Macrobrachium idae (Heller)

Abstract

AbstractA majority of the males of the brackish water shrimp, Macrobrachium idae, show a hypertrophy in the length of the second cheliped, the length and spinuosity of the appendix masculina and the width of the vas deferens, during the breeding season. Statistical analyses of the measurements of these characters show that this hypertrophy has only very little correlation to the size of the individual, and that the above sex characters have marked variation in a population having the same body length. The hypertrophy of these structures is more linked with the extent of development of the androgenic gland. Also, in such individuals, the androgenic gland shows signs of increased secretory activity as evidenced by increase in size of the cells, vacuolisation of cytoplasm and presence of degenerative areas. It is suggested that there is a direct relation between the secretory activity of the androgenic gland and the hypertrophy of these structures i.e. there is a “cause and effect” relation between the androgenic gland and the primary and secondary sex characters.