RESEARCH ARTICLE


Histological Study of the Sex-Change in the Skunk Clownfish Amphiprion akallopisos



Margarida Casadevall1, *, Eulalia Delgado1, Orphal Colleye2, Samuel Ber Monserrat2, Eric Parmentier2
1 Environmental Sciences Department, Sciences Faculty, Girona University, 17071 Girona, Spain
2 Laboratoire de Morphologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Institut de Chimie, Bâtiment B6c, Université de Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium


Article Metrics

CrossRef Citations:
11
Total Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 343
Abstract HTML Views: 428
PDF Downloads: 0
Total Views/Downloads: 771
Unique Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 207
Abstract HTML Views: 265
PDF Downloads: 0
Total Views/Downloads: 472



© 2009 Casadevall et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Environmental Sciences Department, Sciences Faculty, Girona University, 17071 Girona, Spain; Tel: 003472418498; Fax: 003472418150; E-mail: margarida.casadevall@udg.edu


Abstract

Sex change in the protandrous fish Amphiprion akallopisos Bleeker, 1853 (F.Pomacentridae) has been analysed. Experiments consisted of placing males together after being separated from their mates, and observe changes in gonad histology at different periods, in order to identify signs of the sex change process. The presence of a first invagination on the male gonad wall, and the observation of the first cortical alveoli oocytes as an indication of the beginning of the vitellogenesis process, was the first symptom of the sex change, which has been detected after 18 days in one of the males. Period needed for the sex changing process was size independent. The process by which wall invagination is converted into ovarian lumen in the future mature ovary is also described.