Sexual reproduction in Chondrilla australiensis (Porifera : Demospongiae)
Kayley M. Usher A E , David C. Sutton A , Simon Toze B , John Kuo C and Jane Fromont DA The Department of Microbiology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
B CSIRO Land and Water, Underwood Avenue, Floreat, WA 6014, Australia.
C The Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
D Western Australian Museum, Perth Cultural Centre, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.
E Corresponding author. Email: kusher@cyllene.uwa.edu.au
Marine and Freshwater Research 55(2) 123-134 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF03058
Submitted: 23 April 2003 Accepted: 14 November 2003 Published: 31 March 2004
Abstract
Increasingly, sponges are being used as models for a wide range of biological systems. However, little is known about the reproductive biology of a group that has been shown to lack gonads or gonadal ducts. The development of gametes in the oviparous demosponge Chondrilla australiensis at Fremantle, Western Australia, was investigated using light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy over 5 years. Results indicate that C. australiensis is gonochoric and oviparous. Egg and sperm development were first apparent inside choanocyte chambers, with both types of gamete apparently developing from choanocytes. During egg development, large numbers of nurse cells appeared attached to eggs, with which they fused at the time of spawning. The origin of the nurse cells remains unclear, but they may also have a choanocyte origin. Eggs took 4 weeks to develop and sperm took approximately 2 weeks, during which time the nucleus condensed and the cytoplasm reduced. Mature sperm could occupy almost the entire matrix of fecund males and were not contained in cysts. Spawning occurred in late summer and autumn over a period of 4–5 days, when the tides were at the maximum height for the month.
Extra keywords: dispersal, egg development, marine invertebrates, spawning, sponge.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Dr M. Rossbach, Fisheries Western Australia, for providing data on sea temperatures at Marmion and the Coastal Data Centre, Department for Planning and Infrastructure, for supplying data on tide heights at Fremantle, Western Australia. We also thank the Australasian Diving Academy, Claremont, Western Australia, for subsidising diving expenses. This study was supported by a grant from the Australian Biological Resources Study.
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