title: Ultrastructure of spermatozoa of Bullacta exarata (philippi) and its significance on reproductive evolution and physio-ecological adaptation.
abstract: The morphology and ultrastructure of Bullacta exarata spermatozoa observed by light and transmission electron microscopy are presented in this paper. The spermatozoa is composed of head with a simple acrosomal complex and an elongated nucleus, and tail with a midpiece, principal piece and an end piece. The midpiece consists of a mitochondrial ring, and the principal piece is composed of axoneme and lateral fin. The structure of B. exarata spermatozoa differs significantly from that of other gastropods, especially in the lateral fin and the principal piece, which was described scarcely before. A comparison is made between B. exarata and other gastropods, and its significance on reproductive evolution and physio-ecological adaptation is preliminarily discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou Normal College, 325027, China. xpying2000@163.net
authors.forename: Xue-ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.forename: Wan-xi
authors.initials: WX
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Nai-cheng
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Yong-pu
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D008297:Male; D008974:Mollusca / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*