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Ultrastructure of oogenesis in the holopelagic polychaetes Rhynchonerella angelini and Alciopa reynaudii (Polychaeta: Alciopidae)

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Abstract

Ultrastructural features of oogenesis were examined in the pelagic polychaetes Rhynchonerella angelini and Alciopa reynaudii which were collected from Bahamian waters by a manned submersible during 1979 and 1980. No definitive ovary was detected in either species. Oogonia are released into the coelom as packets of cells, where they undergo mitotic division while surrounded by an envelope of sheath cells. Cytokinesis is incomplete, resulting in intercellular bridges between oogonia. Oocytes undergo early stages of meiosis characterized by the presence of synapsed chromosomes, followed by a period of rapid cytoplasmic and nuclear growth. Oocytes are released from the packets in the early vitellogenic phase into the coelom, where they undergo yolk synthesis as solitary coelomic cells. Vitellogenesis includes both autosynthetic and heterosynthetic processes. Autosynthesis involves the fusion of secretory vesicles formed by the combined activity of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi complex, with convoluted electron-dense tubular bodies of unknown origin. Heterosynthesis involves the intense uptake of exogenous precursors through endocytosis and their fusion into nascent yolk bodies which, in turn, are presumed to fuse with autosynthetically-derived yolk bodies. No nutrient stores were detected in somatic tissues. Early and middle stages of vitellogenic oocytes were absent from the coelom. This absence combined with the high level of endocytotic activity suggests that vitellogenesis occurs rapidly. These features, in combination with the presence of an exceptionally thin body wall and gut, might serve as related adaptations for predator avoidance by the maintenance of relatively low tissue-density. Alciopid, phyllodocid, and nereid polychaetes share some common reproductive features including the presence of “dispersed” ovaries, clusters of syncytial germ cells which undergo meiosis while enveloped by somatic cells and the release of oocytes from the clusters prior to vitellogenesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Reproductive Biology Program, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, 5600 Old Dixie Highway, 34946, Fort Pierce, Florida, USA

    K. J. Eckelbarger

  2. Divisionof Science and Mathematics, University of Tampa, 33606, Tampa, Florida, USA

    S. A. Rice

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  1. K. J. Eckelbarger
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  2. S. A. Rice
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Communicated by J. M. Lawrence, Tampa

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Eckelbarger, K.J., Rice, S.A. Ultrastructure of oogenesis in the holopelagic polychaetes Rhynchonerella angelini and Alciopa reynaudii (Polychaeta: Alciopidae). Marine Biology 98, 427–439 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391119

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