Functional Anatomy of the Male Reproductive System and the Female Spermatheca in the Snow Crab Chionoecetes opilio (O. Fabricius) (Decapoda: Majidae) and a Hypothesis for Fertilization

Testis and vas deferens morphology of the red-clawed mangrove tree crab (Goniopsis cruentata) (Latreille, 1803)

“…These secretions could play a role in spermatophore formation and were likely to correspond to the two amorphous substances mentioned by Sainte-Marie and SainteMarie (1999) in a study on the crab species C. opilio. These results suggested the finding of Beninger et al (1988) who reported the existence of two different types of seminal fluid posteriorly in the vas deferens. However, Benhalima and Moriyasu (2000) reported that both fluids originated in the intermediate region of the vas deferens and underwent changes in chemical structure while passing to the posterior part of the vas deferens.…”

“…Similarly, El-Sherief (1991) reported observing two layers in the wall of spermatophores of P. pelagicus, and Johnson (1980) found spermatophores to be surrounded by PAS and Alcian Blue-positive secretion. Beninger et al (1988) reported a homogeneous and acellular film enveloping the spermatophores. Cronin (1947) found that the two fluids secreted by the anterior part of the vas deferens which played an important role in determining the mass of the spermatozoa and in forming the spherical spermatophores.…”

“…Although much has been described on testis and vas deferens morphology, only few studies have dealt with crabs. The latter include light microscopy studies of the species Menippe mercenaria (Binford, 1913), Pachygrapsus marmoratus (Mouchet, 1931), Callinectes sapidus (Cronin, 1947;Johnson, 1980), Portunus sanguinolentus (Ryan, 1967), Libinia emarginata (Hinsh and Walker, 1974), Chionoecetes opilio (Beninger et al, 1988;Sainte-Marie and SainteMarie, 1999;Benhalima and Moriyasu, 2000) and Ucides cordatus (Leite, 2002). Testis and vas deferens morphology has been described for several other species of crustaceans, including Panulirus (Talbot and Summers, 1978), Scyllarus chacei (Hinsch and Mcknight, 1988), Thenus orientalis (Burton, 1995), Panulirus laevicauda (Lima, 1995) and Diogenes pugilator (Manjón-Cabeza and Raso, 2000).…”

“…Testis and vas deferens morphology has been described for several other species of crustaceans, including Panulirus (Talbot and Summers, 1978), Scyllarus chacei (Hinsch and Mcknight, 1988), Thenus orientalis (Burton, 1995), Panulirus laevicauda (Lima, 1995) and Diogenes pugilator (Manjón-Cabeza and Raso, 2000). Spermatophore formation has been studied for a number of crustaceans using light microscopy, including the crab species C. sapidus (Cronin, 1947;Johnson, 1980), Portunus pelagicus (ElSherief, 1991), Scylla serrata (Uma and Subramoniam, 1979), Carcinus maenas (Spalding, 1942), P. marmoratus (Mouchet, 1931), Lithodes maja (Tudge et al, 1998), C. opilio (Beninger et al, 1988), U. cordatus (Leite, 2002), the lobster species P. laevicauda (Lima, 1995) and the hermit crab species D. pugilator (Manjón-Cabeza and Raso, 2000). The present study studied the testis and vas deferens morphology and spermatophore formation of the red-clawed mangrove tree crab, Goniopsis cruentata (Latreille, 1803), in order to understand the reproductive process of this economically important fishing resource in Northeastern Brazil.…”

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“…El primer par de pleópodos (gonopodo=G1) es tubular y dirige la corriente de esperma hacia el gonoporo femenino; el (G2) actúa como pistón que impulsa la masa de espermatóforos hacia la espermateca (BAUER, 1986;KRONENBERGER et al, 2004). En algunas familias como Cancridae y Majiidae (BENINGER et al, 1988;SQUIRES, 1990) ambos gonopodos son apéndices largos de diferente robustez según el grupo. DIESEL (1991) hipotetiza que el largo de los G1 en cangrejos cancridos y portunidos permiten la penetración del apex en la espermateca, desplazando ventralmente el eyaculado previo.…”