The reproductive organs of the prosobranch mollusk Crepidula onyx and their transformation during the change from male to female phase
✍ Scribed by Wesley R. Coe
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1942
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 629 KB
- Volume
- 70
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0362-2525
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
FIVE FIGURES
I n previous papers the writer (Coc, '35, '36, '38 a, '38 b) and othcrs (Iilcinsteubcr, '13 : Giese, '15; Gould, '17; Ishiki, '36, '39 ; Noritz, '38) have described the gonads and associated sexual organs in several species of this and related genera, including thc transformations which occur during the change of sexual phase. Yet the morphological and physiological changes which occur during the transformation of sex in thcse mollusks are so profound and so ~iiiique that it rriay be of interest to subject them to more thorough examination.
Cerpidula onyx Sowerby and its deviating habitat-form C. rugosa Nuttall are abundant along the coast of Southern California. Thc former is usually found lying on muddy bottoms in pyramidal groups of thrce to sixteen superimposed individuals, while the latter occurs singly or in groups of two to four attached to large rnollusk shells and rocks (Coe, '38 b).
I n this species as in several othcrs of the genus, the cggs are laid in gelatinous capsules and incubated for a period of about 2 to 3 weeks 'ncneath tlic body of the parent. The Contributions from the Scrippr lnstittitiori of Orcanogrephy, New Series, s o . 150.