The functional significance of the spermatophore and the fate of spermatozoa in the genital tract of Helix pomatia (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora)

Lind, Hans

doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1973.tb04652.x

Cited by 111 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Viable allosperm can be stored for more than 1 year in species with long life span, as in Achatinidae and Helicidae (Lind 1973; Baur 1998). Nevertheless, contrary to our expectation, we found no association between spermatheca presence and longevity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of female sperm-storage organs in the carrefour of stylommatophoran gastropods

Beese

Armbruster

Beier

et al. 2009

Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research

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The presence of specialized female sperm-storage organs has been recognized as an important factor influencing postcopulatory sexual selection via sperm competition and cryptic female choice in internally fertilizing species. We morphologically examined the complexity of sperm-storage organs in the carrefour (spermatheca and fertilization pouch) in 47 species of stylommatophoran gastropods. We used partial 28S rDNA sequences to construct a molecular phylogeny, and applied maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian methods to investigate the history of spermatheca diversification and to test different hypotheses of sperm-storage organ evolution. The phylogenetic reconstruction supported several gains and losses of spermathecae. Moreover, a complex spermatheca was associated with the occurrence of love darts or other kinds of auxiliary copulatory organs, the presence of a long penial flagellum, and cross-fertilization as the predominant mating system. However, our results also suggest associations of carrefour complexity with body size, reproductive strategy (semelparity versus iteroparity), reproductive mode (oviparity versus ovoviviparity), and habitat type. Carrefour length in 17 snail species possessing a spermatheca was positively correlated with sperm length.Our results indicate that postcopulatory sexual selection as well as life history and habitat specificity may have influenced the evolution of female sperm-storage organs in hermaphroditic gastropods.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of female sperm-storage organs in the carrefour of stylommatophoran gastropods

Beese

Armbruster

Beier

et al. 2009

Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research

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“…In E. peliomphala, the donated spermatophore is moved from the oviduct to the bursa copulatrix after mating . Once the sperm are transferred into the bursa copulatrix by peristaltic waves occurring in the spermatophorereceiving organ, they are rapidly and permanently immobilised (Lind, 1973); therefore, only the sperm that swim out of the spermatophore into the allosperm storage organ (the spermatheca) before removal of the spermatophore can contribute to fertilisation. Therefore, inhibition of removal of the sperm and the spermatophore is thought to result in an increase in the number of sperm that reach the spermatheca of the recipient.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Common effect of the mucus transferred during mating in two dart-shooting snail species from different families

Kimura

Chiba

Koene

2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Several taxa of pulmonate land snails exhibit a conspicuous mating behaviour, the shooting of so-called love darts. During mating, such land snail species stab a mating partner with a mucus-coated dart. It has previously been shown that the sperm donor physiologically influences the sperm recipient via the mucus covering the dart and thereby decreases the number of sperm digested by the recipient. However, the generality of this effect of the dart's mucus is unclear, because almost all the previous studies on the effect of the mucus used the brown garden snail Cornu aspersum from the family Helicidae. Therefore, the relationship between the acquisition of the mucus effect on the recipient and the evolution of the dart itself, and its mucus, is still open to debate. To test the commonality of the physiological effect of the dart mucus, we examined this in Euhadra peliomphala, a species from the Bradybaenidae family, and compared our findings with the results of previous work using C. aspersum. Our experiments showed that in E. peliomphala, the dart mucus had a physiological effect and lowered the accessibility of the gametolytic organ, as found in C. aspersum. This indicates that in various dart-bearing species the mucus from the dart glands targets the same organ and that the inhibition of sperm digestion has played a crucial role in the evolution of the dart and its mucus.

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“…However, this hypothesis has been questioned, as sperm from a single donor were distributed across 75% of tubules in C. aspersum (Chase & Darbyson 2008). Nonetheless, cryptic female choice may be exercised through the presence of an ingesting or gametolytic gland (Lind 1973; Tompa 1984; Haase & Baur 1995) through the selective ingestion of low‐quality sperm before passage to seminal receptacles (Birkhead et al 1993).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Histomorphology of the female pallial gonoduct in Dicathais orbita (Neogastropoda, Muricidae): sperm passage, fertilization, and sperm storage potential

Westley

Lewis

Benkendorff

2010

Invertebrate Biology

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Abstract. The current investigation provides the first histomorphological description of the female pallial gonoduct in the muricid mollusc Dicathais orbita, and of sperm passage in the subfamily Rapaninae. Gonoduct anatomy, musculature, and sperm distribution were documented over the annual reproductive cycle to confirm the site of fertilization in members of the Muricidae, provide evidence for sperm storage, and allow subfamilial comparisons in reproductive anatomy and strategies. This approach revealed morphological plasticity of the ingesting gland in D. orbita, which has implications for the use of gonoduct character traits in taxonomic studies of the Muricidae. Other features of subfamilial diagnostic interest, including the ventral channel and both albumen and capsule glands, are highlighted to show common character traits between the Rapaninae, Ocenebrinae, and Muricinae. Conversely, distinct differences in posterior capsule and pedal gland morphology may aid subfamilial classification of Rapaninae species in future revisions of the Muricidae. Histomorphology coupled with sperm distribution revealed the passage of sperm and identified the dorsal albumen gland as the site of fertilization. Temporally replicated sampling indicated the potential for sperm storage for ≤10 months within the seminal receptacles in D. orbita. Sperm ingestion provides a possible mechanism for sexual selection, suggesting further investigation into sperm storage is warranted in the Muricidae.

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The functional significance of the spermatophore and the fate of spermatozoa in the genital tract of Helix pomatia (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora)

Cited by 111 publications

References 8 publications

Evolution of female sperm-storage organs in the carrefour of stylommatophoran gastropods

Evolution of female sperm-storage organs in the carrefour of stylommatophoran gastropods

Common effect of the mucus transferred during mating in two dart-shooting snail species from different families

Histomorphology of the female pallial gonoduct in Dicathais orbita (Neogastropoda, Muricidae): sperm passage, fertilization, and sperm storage potential

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