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Gametogenesis and Breeding in a Natural Population of Nereis Virens

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

A. E. Brafield
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Queen Elizabeth College, London, W. 8
G. Chapman
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Queen Elizabeth College, London, W. 8

Extract

Studies of a natural population of N. virens Sars at Southend reveal that the oocytes take a little over a year to mature. After a period of relative quiescence they grow rapidly between September and December and then increase little in size until early May. Within a given specimen small oocytes are more variable in size than large ones. Sperm develop fully from coelomic sperm plates in about eight months, and are mature by the beginning of May. There is a period during which they are characteristically clumped in quartets.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1967

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