Spermatozoan morphology of the snails Babylonia lutosa , Babylonia areolata from parental lines of populations in Hainan and Thailand and hybrid lines

Abstract

Sperm morphology provides an abundant source of potentially informative characters for gastropod taxonomy. In the present study, this character was used to offer additional information concerning the genus Babylonia (Mollusca, Gastropoda), the most promising economic marine gastropods of the present century. Light and transmission electron microscopy was used to study the ultrastructure of spermatozoa in five groups of Babylonia, including B. areolata populations from Hainan, China, from Thailand, and the reciprocal hybrid offspring of these two populations and B. lutosa. Principal component analysis was conducted to examine morphological differences of spermatozoa. The results showed that morphology can contribute to the classification of the two species B. areolata and B. lutosa. The reciprocal hybrid offspring of the two B. areolata varieties exhibited ultrastructure of spermatozoa similar to that of their male parents, and each showed greater similarity to the male parent in the fine structural details. This study aimed to compare the ultrastructure of sperm in five groups of Babylonia and to compare the differences between the parents and the hybrids to provide basic information for genetic studies of Babylonia.