Mastrodonato, M.; Scillitani, G.; Trani, R.; Cardone, F.; Corriero, G.; Nonnis Marzano, C. (2022). Sexual and asexual reproduction in a Mediterranean Tethya (Porifera, Demospongiae) species. BMC Zoology. 7 (41): 1-8.

434107

10.1186/s40850-022-00142-9 [view]

Mastrodonato, M.; Scillitani, G.; Trani, R.; Cardone, F.; Corriero, G.; Nonnis Marzano, C.

2022

7 (41): 1-8

Publication

Available for editors   [request]

The reproductive cycle of the recently described sponge Tethya meloni was investigated for a period of 15months (September 2018 – November 2019) in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Southern Italy) and was compared with data previously collected for the other two sympatric species of the same genus known for Mediterranean Sea, T. citrina and T. aurantium. T. meloni is a gonochoric species with a sex ratio strongly shifted towards females. Asexual budding was a seasonal process, limited to few specimens. In a specimen collected in September 2018 both oocytes and buds occurred, suggesting that in T. meloni the sexual and asexual phases may coexist both at the population and individual levels. Conclusions: The data obtained from this research compared with the available literature confrm the high temporal variability of the reproductive cycles in the Mediterranean species of Tethya, but with common general characteristics. In sexual reproduction, the oocyte production period lasts several months, with a peak between summer and autumn while spermatogenesis, shorter but with greater reproductive efort, follows the onset of oogenesis. The asexual reproduction phase of T. meloni, on the other hand, occurs in a short period and seems to have less importance in the overall reproductive process.

Mediterranean

Reproduction

Porifera

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