Abstract

RODRIGUEZ-GOMEZ, Yamilka  and  SANZ-OCHOTORENA, Ana. Morfología y ultraestructura de los espermatozoides de dos especies del género Anolis (Sauria: Polychrotidae) en Cuba. TIP [online]. 2009, vol.12, n.1, pp.13-19. ISSN 1405-888X.

The present paper describes the morphology and ultrastructural aspects of the sperm of two species of Cuban lizards, Anolis sagrei and Anolis porcatus. Three adult males were collected in Havana province, and both testicles were extracted. Permanent cuts of seminiferous tubules stained with hematoxiline-eosine were made; smears of sperm from suspensions in Ringer’s solution were also prepared. A cutting from the testes of both species was processed for transmission electron microscopy. Testes have seminiferous tubules which appear rounded or oval in a cross section view; the interior of the tubules contains sexual cells, in varying degrees of development, disposed from the base to the lumen. The head of the sperm is elongated. By transmission electron microscope, the acrosome and the nucleus are observed, and also the centrioles in the region of the neck, as well as the tail with its midpiece, principal piece and endpiece. The axoneme, internally, shows the 9+2 microtubule pattern. The results revealed that the morphology of sperm, in the analyzed features, shows no difference between the two species tested, even at the ultrastructural level.

Keywords : Anolis; sperm; morphology; seminiferous tubules; ultrastructure.

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