title: The ovary of the bignose fanskate Sympterygia acuta Garman, 1877 (Chondrichthyes, Rajidae) in the Bahía Blanca estuary, Argentina: morphology and reproductive features.
abstract: Chondrichthyes have become an important economic resource in recent years. In spite of this importance, there is little knowledge about their reproductive biology, especially of species from the south-western Atlantic. In this work, we study the morphology and histology of the ovary of Sympterygia acuta. The results show that oogonia were present only in the immature females (stage I of maturity scale), whereas specimens in stages II and III of maturity displayed oocytes in all developmental steps. The most important histological features that vary throughout oocyte development are the presence or absence of yolk, the number of types and layers of follicular cells and the degree of development of the thecae. Follicular cells are, at least, of two different types. Finally, a new point of view for the determination of maturity stages in the field based on the size of follicles is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Histología Animal, Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Díaz-Andrade
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Galíndez
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Estecondo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina; D005260:Female; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000502:physiology*; D010053:Ovary / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development; D012098:Reproduction; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000502:physiology*; D012860:Skates, Fish / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology