Orchestra for the Dress Code of Sperm and its Transport in Caecilians

Abstract

Caecilians, of the order Gymnophiona in the Lissamphibia, are circumtropically distributed across most moist tropical regions of the world. Gymnophiona are among the least understood terrestrial vertebrates and have received lesser attention than the other two orders of lissamphibians, the Urodela and Anura. Spermiogenesis, known as spermateleosis in lower vertebrates, is the transformation of the round spermatid into a highly specialized spermatozoon with a species-specific structure. Spermateleosis and sperm morphology of two species of caecilians, Ichthyophis tricolor and Uraeotyphlus cf. narayani, from the Western Ghats of Kerala, India, were studied using light and scanning electron microscopy. The cyst morphology is described in ten steps. We also report the sperm transporting course in this enigmatic amphibian in addition to localizing sperm in the kidney. This confirms the transport of sperm through the kidney.