Spermiogenesis in the horseshoe crab, <i>Limulus polyphemus</i>

Abstract

Groups of spermatids of Limulus polyphemus undergo differentiation in thin-walled cysts within the seminiferous tubules. The nucleus compacts to a spherical shape, but retains a much less condensed nuclear appendage, whose unique pores are each surrounded by a microtubule. The appendage, unmodified mitochondria, glycogen, and coated vesicles, all present in the mature spermatozoon, suggest an unusual degree of metabolic self-sufficiency of the cell. The acrosome is associated with a 50 μ-long acrosomal filament that penetrates the nucleus during spermiogenesis and coils up in the cytoplasm, enveloped by two outer nuclear membranes. The filament, which eventually comes to lie in the circumnuclear cisterna, retains a covering of one membrane during its discharge at the time of the acrosome reaction. The posterior region of the head forms a thin-walled collar with peculiar internal supports around the base of the flagellum. Serverance of intercellular bridges between spermatids, cytoplasm elimination, and rupture of the cyst precede liberation of the immature spermatozoa into the lumen of the seminiferous tubules. Notwithstanding its peculiarities, the Limulus spermatozoon, with its simple shape closely resembling that of annelids and molluscs, represents the most primitive arthropod spermatozoon congruent with the evolutionary stability of the xiphosurans.