Chonopeltis australis (Crustacea: Branchiura); the female reproductive system

Lourelle Alicia Martins Neethling; Annemariè Avenant-Oldewage

doi:10.1016/j.asd.2018.03.004

Chonopeltis australis (Crustacea: Branchiura); the female reproductive system

Arthropod Struct Dev. 2018 May;47(3):279-285. doi: 10.1016/j.asd.2018.03.004. Epub 2018 Apr 12.

Authors

Lourelle Alicia Martins Neethling¹, Annemariè Avenant-Oldewage²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Johannesburg, PO Box 524, Auckland Park, Johannesburg, 2006, South Africa. Electronic address: lneethling@uj.ac.za.
² Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Johannesburg, PO Box 524, Auckland Park, Johannesburg, 2006, South Africa. Electronic address: aoldewage@uj.ac.za.

PMID: 29608975
DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2018.03.004

Abstract

The female reproductive system has been described for Dolops ranarum (Stuhlman, 1891) and various Argulus spp. but, there is no description of the reproductive system for Dipteropeltis spp. Calman, 1912 or Chonopeltis spp. Thiele, 1900. This paper describes the female reproductive system and egg laying behaviour of Chonopeltisaustralis Boxshall, 1976 using histology, light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and observations. The histological study of six specimens showed that the organ structure is similar to that of Argulus spp. and D. ranarum. The oocytes therefore develop in the gonocoel, are ovulated into the lumen of the ovary which is continuous with the functional oviduct and eventually the gonopore. Females of C. australis deposit eggs on the surrounding substrate while the fish is at rest, without leaving the host, thereby mitigating the risk of not locating a host again.

Keywords: Behaviour; Egg sack; Oocyte development; Ovary.

MeSH terms

Animals
Arguloida / anatomy & histology*
Arguloida / physiology*
Arguloida / ultrastructure
Female
Genitalia, Female / anatomy & histology
Genitalia, Female / ultrastructure
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
Oviposition*