Sponges, coelenterates, flatworms, and aschelminthes

The processes of sperm transfer and fertilization have been documented for only a few species of sponges. Flagellated (i.e., bearing a whiplike strand) sperm are released from the male gonad and swept out of the body and into the water by way of an elaborate system of canals. A sperm that enters another sponge, or the one from which it was released, is captured by a flagellated collar cell (choanocyte). The choanocyte completely engulfs the sperm, loses its collar and flagellum (or “whip”), and migrates to deeper tissue where the egg has matured. The choanocyte containing the sperm cell fuses with the egg, thus achieving fertilization. In freshwater coelenterates, sperm are also released into the water and carried by currents to another individual. Unlike the mechanism in sponges, however, coelenterate eggs arise in the epidermis, or surface tissue, and are exposed to sperm that may be nearby in the water; thus, no intermediate transport cell is needed. Many species of marine coelenterates expel both sperm and eggs into the water, and fertilization takes place there. Some medusoid coelenterates (jellyfish), however, offer some protection to the egg. After leaving the gonad, the egg becomes temporarily lodged in the epidermis on the underside of the organism, where fertilization and early development occur.

In all flatworms, fertilization is internal. Among species with no female duct, sperm are injected, and fertilization occurs in the inner layer of tissue. Most flatworms, however, have an elaborate system of male and female ducts. Generally, the male gonoduct passes through a penis-like organ, and sperm are transferred during copulation. In parasitic species, which often cannot find a mate, self-fertilization serves as the means for reproduction. Sperm and ova unite in the oviduct, which then secretes yolk around the zygote.

Male nematodes (roundworms) are usually equipped with a pair of copulatory structures (spicules) that guide the sperm during copulation. The posterior end of some males also exhibits a lateral (sideward) expansion (copulatory bursa) that clasps the female during copulation. Other males loop their tail around the female in the region of her gonopore. Unlike many other aschelminthes, nematodes have sperm cells that are amoeboid; i.e., their cell contents seem to flow. Some male rotifers have a copulatory organ.

Annelids and mollusks

In some species of annelid polychaetes (marine worms) reproductive activity is synchronized with lunar cycles. At breeding time the body of both sexes differentiates into two regions, an anterior atoke and a posterior epitoke, in which gonads develop. When the moon is in a specific phase, the epitoke separates from the rest of the body and swims to the surface. The female epitoke apparently stimulates the male epitoke to release sperm, and sperm release, in turn, evokes expulsion of eggs. Fertilization is external. So well coordinated is this phenomenon that tremendous numbers of epitokes appear on the surface at about the same time.

Sexually mature oligochaetes have a clitellum, which is a modification of a section of the body wall consisting of a glandular, saddlelike thickening near the gonopores. During copulation, the clitellum secretes a mucus that keeps the worms paired while sperm are being exchanged. Following copulation, the clitellum secretes substance for a cocoon, which encircles the worm and into which eggs and sperm are deposited. The worm then manipulates the cocoon until it slips off over the head. Thereupon, the ends of the cocoon become sealed, and fertilization and development take place inside. Many leeches also form a cocoon; but the males of some species have a penis that can be inserted into the female gonopore. In other leeches, a spermatophore is thrust into the body of the mate during copulation.

Union of gametes among mollusks is effected in a number of ways. Marine pelecypods synchronously discharge sperm and eggs into the sea; some freshwater clams are apparently self-fertilizing. One of the more unusual types of reproductive diversity occurs in marine gastropods of the family Scalidae that produce two kinds of sperm cells. A large sperm with a degenerate nucleus acts as a transport cell for carrying numerous small fertilizing sperm through the water and into the oviduct of another individual. Cephalopod males have modified arms for the transfer of spermatophores. The right or left fourth arm of the squid, for example, is so modified. Following an often elaborate courtship, the male squid uses the modified appendage to remove spermatophores from their storage place in his body and place them in the mantle cavity of the female. A cementing substance, which is released from the spermatophore, firmly attaches the spermatophore to the female’s body near the oviduct. In some species, the male loses the arm. Manipulation of the eggs by the female’s arms may also occur.

Some unusual behaviour patterns have evolved in conjunction with sperm transfer in mollusks. Prior to copulation of certain land snails, a dart composed of calcium carbonate is propelled forcefully from the gonopore of each of the mating individuals and lodges in the viscera of the mate. Even though the snails have assumed a mating posture, sperm transfer cannot occur until each snail has been stimulated by a dart.

Arthropods

Arthropods are as varied as mollusks in their methods of effecting union of sperm and eggs. They have relatively few devices for sperm transfer, but many display a high degree of behavioral complexity.

The male and female scorpion participate in a courtship ritual involving complicated manoeuvres. In some species the male produces spermatophores that are anchored to the ground. In the course of the ritual dance the female is positioned over the spermatophore. The male then presses her down until the sperm packet is forced into her genital chamber, where it becomes attached by means of small hooks. Thus, ultimately, fertilization takes place internally.

Among some spiders the male’s pedipalp, a grasping or crushing appendage, contains a bulb and an extensible, coiled structure (embolus). As mating begins, the male dips the pedipalp into semen from his gonopore. The embolus is then placed in the female gonopore, and the sperm are transferred to her seminal receptacle. The female deposits the sperm along with her eggs into a silken cocoon, which she attaches to her body or to an object such as a rock or a leaf.

Sperm transfer in copepods, isopods, and many decapods, often preceded by courtship, is effected by modified appendages, gonopods, or spermatophores. Copepods clasp the female with their antennae while placing a spermatophore at the opening of the seminal receptacle. In some decapods fertilization occurs as eggs are being released into the water.

Fertilization among insects is always internal; there is much variation in the manner in which sperm are transferred to the female. Males of some species form spermatophores that are deposited in a copulatory bursa (vagina) of the female; the wall of the spermatophore breaks down, and the sperm swim to the seminal receptacle. In other species, sperm are introduced directly into the seminal receptacle by an intromittent organ. In still others, sperm, but no spermatophores, are deposited in the copulatory bursa and migrate to the seminal receptacle. In all instances, sperm are retained in the seminal receptacle until after fertilization. An exception to the usual route of sperm transfer occurs in insects that inject sperm into the female’s hemocoel (i.e., the space between the body organs). The sperm then migrate to the ovary and oviduct and unite with eggs before the eggshell is formed.