Abstract
Karyotypes of the brackish-water polychaete Neanthes japonica (Izuka) collected from five rivers in Japan from 1984 to 1988 were examined with air-drying and flame-drying methods using materials consisting of regenerating tails, clumps of spermatogonia and young N. japonica specimens (embryos, larvae or juveniles). A diploid number of 28 was determined in well-spread metaphase chromosomes of mitotic cells. The presence of an XX-XY (male heterogametic) sex chromosome system was established for the first time in polychaetes. The Y chromosome was larger than the X chromosome. Slight differences in karyotype were found between two forms (the small- and large-egg forms), which are very similar in adult morphology but can be distinguished by reproductive and developmental characteristics.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Åkesson, B. (1984). Speciation in the genus Ophryotrocha (Polychaeta, Dorvilleidae). In: Fischer, A., Pfannenstiel, H.-D. (eds.) Fortschritte der Zoologie, Vol. 29: Polychaete reproduction. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, p. 299–316
Bentzer, B., Bothmer, R. V., Engstrand, L., Gustafsson, M., Snogerup, S. (1971). Some sources of error in the determination of arm ratios of chromosomes. Bot. Not. 124: 65–74
Bull, J. J. (1983). Evolution of sex determining mechanisms. The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, London
Christensen, B. (1980). Animal cytogenetics, Vol. 2: Annelida. Gebrüder Borntraeger, Berlin
Franke, H.-D. (1986). Sex ratio and sex change in wild and laboratory populations of Typosyllis prolifera (Polychaeta). Mar. Biol. 90: 197–208
Grassle, J. P., Gelfman, C. E., Mills, S. W. (1987). Karyotypes of Capitella sibling species, and of several species in the related genera Capitellides and Capitomastus (Polychaeta). Bull. biol. Soc. Wash. 7: 77–88
Ikeda, M., Sato, M. (1991). Chromosome preparations from larvae and adult tissues of polychaetes. Benthos Res. (Japan) (in Japanese with English summary)
Imai, H. T., Crozier, R. H., Taylor, R. W. (1977) Karyotype evolution in Australian ants. Chromsoma 59: 341–393
Imajima, M. (1972). Review of the annelid worms of the family Nereidae of Japan, with descriptions of five new species or subspecies. Bull. natn. Sci. Mus., Tokyo 15: 37–153
Kligerman, A. D., Bloom, S. E. (1977). Rapid chromosome preparations from solid tissues of fishes. J. Fish. Res Bd Can. 34: 266–269
Levan, A., Fredga, K., Sandberg, A. A. (1964). Nomenclature for centromeric position on chromosomes. Hereditas 52: 201–220
Maegregor, H., Varley, J. (1983). Working with animal chromosomes. 2nd edn. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester
Martin, F., Traut, W. (1987). The mode of sex determination in Dinophilus gyrociliatus (Archiannelida). Int. J. Invert. Repord. Dev. (Amsterdam) 11: 159–172
Olive, P. J. W. (1983) Annelida — Polychaeta. In: Adiyodi, K. G., Adiyodi, R. G. (eds.) Reproductive biology of invertebrates, Vol. II: Spermatogenesis and sperm function. John Wiley & Sons, Chuchester, p. 321–342
Pesch, G. G., Pesch, C. E. (1980). Chromosome complement of the marine worm Neanthes arenaceodentata (Polychaeta: Annelida). Can. Fish. aquat. Sciences 37: 286–288
Pesch, G. G., Pesch, C. E., Mueller, C. (1988). Chromosome complements from two populations of the marine worm Neanthes arenaceodentata (Annelida: Polychaeta). Ophelia 28: 163–167
Petraitis, P. S. (1985). Digametic sex determination in the marine polychaete, Capitella capitata (species type I). Heredity, Lond. 55: 151–156
Pfannenstiel, H.-D. (1984). Sex determination and intersexuality in polychaetes. In: Fischer, A., Pfannenstiel, H.-D. (eds.) Fortschritte der Zoologie, Vol. 29: Polychaete reproduction. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, p. 81–98
Robotti, C. A., Ramella, L., Cervella, P., Sella, G. (1991). Chromosome analysis of nine species of Ophryotrocha (Polychaeta: Dorvilleidae). Ophelia, Suppl. 5:625–632
Sato, M., Tsuchiya, M. (1987). Reproductive behavior and salinity favorable for early development in two types of the brackishwater polychaete Neanthes japonica (Izuka). Benthos Res. (Japan). 31: 29–42
Sato, M., Tsuchiya, M. (1991). Two patterns of early development in the nereidid polychaete keying out to Neanthes japonica (Izuka). Ophelia, Suppl. 5: 371–382
Schroeder, P. C., Hermans, C. O. (1975). Annelida: Plychaeta. In: Giese, A. C., Pearse, J. S. (eds.) Reproduction of marine invertebrates, Vol. III. Academic Press, New York, p. 1–213
Vitturi, R., Maiorca, A., Carollo, T. (1984). The chromosomes of Hydroides elegans (Haswell, 1883) (Annelida, Polychaeta). Caryologia 37: 105–113
Weinberg, J. R., Starczak, V. R., Mueller, C., Pesch, G. C., Lindsay, S. M. (1990). Divergence between populations of a monogamous polychaete with male parental care: premating isolation and chromosome variation. Mar. Biol. 107: 205–213
Westergaard, M. (1958). The meachnism of sex determination in dioecious flowering plants. Adv. Genet. 9: 217–281
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by M. Anraku, Suva
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sato, M., Ikeda, M. Chromosomal complements of two forms of Neanthes japonica (Polychaeta, Nereididae) with evidence of male-heterogametic sex chromosomes. Mar. Biol. 112, 299–307 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00702475
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00702475