Seasonal Changes in Morphology of the Gonads of the Bluegill Lepomis Macrochirus
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Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1971 Seasonal Changes in Morphology of the Gonads of the Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus Alan C. Roman Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Roman, Alan C., "Seasonal Changes in Morphology of the Gonads of the Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus" (1971). Master's Theses. 2597. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/2597 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1971 Alan C. Roman ~............. - -------- Seasonal Changes in Morphology of the Gonads of the Bluegill Le2omis macrochirus by Alan c. Roman A '.rhesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Gra.duate School of Loyola University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Science · June 1971 111 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I. wish to thank the faculty of the Biology Department of Loyola University for their advice and assistance. I especially wish to express my appreciation and gratitude to Dr. Jan Savitz for directing this thesis. I also wish to thank Mr. Robert Lent, director of Spring Grove Hatchery and Mr. Gregory Tichacek, district fishery biologist. I wish to acknowledge Mr. Joseph Vlchek, Miss Bernadette Nowicki, and Mr. Philip Yee for their help with the photography. Lastly, I wish to give special thanks to Miss Joanne Gora who typed this thesis. iv Table of Contents Page List of Photographs•••••••••••••••••••••••••• l I. INTRODUCTION •••••••• ; •••••••••••••••••••••••• 4 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ••••••••••••••••••••••••• 5 III. MATERIALS AND METHODS •••••••••••••••••••••••• 8 sample collecting........................ 8 tissue preparation and microtechnique... 8 photography ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 11 thin layer chromatography ••••••••••••••• 11 IV. A GROSS MORPHOLOGY OF THE GONADS ••••••••••••• 13 V. RESULTS ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • 15 Histology of the Bluegill Testis reproductive tissue •••••••••••••••••• 15 endocrine tissue ••••••••••••••••.•••• 16 Histology of the Bluegill Ovary reproductive tissue •••••••••••••••••• 17 endocrine tissue ••••••••••••••••••••• 19 Seasonal Gonad Morphology samples collected on April 9, 1970 ••• 19 samples collected on April 27, -1970.. 20 samples collected on May 9, 1970 ••••• 21 samples collected on May 18, 1970 •••• 21 samples collected on June 5 & 17, 1970 22 samples collected on July 8, 1970 •••• 24 samples collected on October 8, 1970. 25 samples collected on January 2, 1971. 27 Chromatography ••••.••••••••••••••••••••• 27 Table A. Cell Measurements •••••••••••••• 29 Table B. Hatchery Water Temperatures •••• JO VI. DISCUSSION ••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••• 77 VII. SU r1r1ARY. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 90 VIII. LITERATUHE CI'l'ED. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 91 t ~~ ·--" ,,._~~~"llW'.:iJllio-. .....-~~~ll-<..i."'~-----....-~• Cli:& i"m~," 1 List of Photographs Page No, Figure No. 32 1 testis during spawning season 32 2 testis interstitial cells 34 J ncompletely spent" ovary 34 4 noompletely spent" ovary 36 .5 primary oocyte 36 6 nucleus of a mature ovum 38 7 ovum membrane and bordering cells 38 8 ovum membrane and bordering cells 40 9 initial stages of spermato genes is 40 10 initial stages of spermato genesis 42 11 ovary before spawning season 42 12 testis before spawning season 44 lJ immature testis 44 14 testis showing sperm 46 · 15 testis showing sperm 46 16 testis showing sperm 48 17 testis showing Sperm 48 18 testis showing spermatogonial cysts 50 19 ovary before spawning season 50 20 testis during spawning season j ~"'-.M~;'~~'Mll'fl':i/~~-f",,..~~..-1!-,..,!'o..~~..,,_,11''4"*"•-l!L--¥-il 9~~~~~~~.s:Y.~~1'\f~_,,,,~ .. a~ r 2 Page No. Figure No. .52 21 testis during spawning season 52 22 testis during spawning season .54 23 ovary during spawning season 54 24 ovary during spawning season 56 2.5 "partially spent" testis 56 26 "partially spent" testis 58 27 testis during spawning season 58 28 testis during spawning season 60 29 •partially spent" testis 60 30 ·"partially spent" testis 62 31 testis interstitial cell 62 32 ovary during spawning season 64 33 "partially spent" ovary 64 34 "partially spent" ovary 66 3.5 "partially spent" testis 66 36 "partially spent" testis 68 37 "completely spent" testis 68 38 "completely spent" ovary 70 39 "completely spent" ovary 70 40 11 winter 11 testis 72 41 "winter" testis 72 42 "winter" testis 74 43 "winter" ovary 74 44 "winter" ovary -page No, Figure No. 45 thin layer chromatogram 4 Introduction The.bluegill is a freshwater spiny rayed sunfish found extensively in lakes, ponds and rivers throughout the United States and sections of Canada. Its widespread distribution, large populations, and palatability ~ave made this a favorite panfish among anglers. Because of its rapid rate of propagation bluegills have been used by hatcheries as a food source (forage fish) for game fish and by farmers for stocking their ponds (Morgan, 1951). During the preparation of this thesis Illino~ legislators have further demonstrated the bluegill's popularity by declaring it the state fish. The purpose of my investigation is to describe the seasonal cytological structure and function of the bluegill gonads. Thus, the contents of my study might be of practical value to the fish physiologist and perhaps to the fish breeder. A gonadal investigation of any organism, including the bluegill, is of immense value in controlling or expanding its population. This thesis includes a study of male and female germ cell maturation, the presence of interstitial cells in the male, thecal and follicular cells in the female, and the presence of gonadal steroids. s Review of Literature Morphological descriptions of both ovary and testis have been recorded for several teleosts: Lepomis macrochirus and !lli!:Q. salmoides (James, 1946), Sebastodes paucispinis (Moser, 1967), Pomoxis qigro-maculatus and Pomoxis annularis .(Cooper, 1952). Many investigato~s.of gonadal structure, howev~ er, have restricted their studies to a more detailed descrip tion of one sex. Various aspects of teleostean ovary morpho logy included studies of Eucalia inconstar~ (Braekevelt and McMillan, 1967), and Salvelinus fontinalis \]urley and Fisher, 1965). Ball (1960) correlated ovarian structures with repro ductive function in female teleosts. Numerous articles have been published on morphology of teleostean testes. These include descriptions of Heteropneus tes fossilis (Nayyar and Sundararaj, 1970), Betta sp_lendens (Bennington, 1936), Oncorynchus nerka (Wiesel, 1943), Salveli lll!.§. fontinalis (Henderson, 1962), Ambloplites_rupestris (Schroder, 1930), and Perea flavescens (Turner, 1919). In additiol! to its repI•oductive function, the bluegill testes is an endocrine organ containing interstitial cells. These cells are thought to be responsible for the production of steroid sex hormones. Melampy and Cavazos (1954) performed various histochemical tests on the interstitial (leydig) cells of a number of vertebrates, including the bluegill, for the 6 presence of lipids, phospholipids and steroids. Some teleosts, other than the bluegill, however, possess tubule boundary cells which are considered to be the interstitial cell homologue (Marshall and Lofts, 1956). The male androgen, testosterone, produced by the g~nad is primarily responsible for reproductive behavior, such as nest building, by sunfish (Smith, 1969). This study involved the addition of 17°'-methyl testosterone to the water containing castrated flsh and observing the resulting behavior. Very little is known about hormone producing cells in the teleostean ovary. In the zebrafish, 3-B-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, involved in steroid hormone synthesis, is found to be associ ated with some thecal cells of large follicles (Yamamoto and Onozato, 1968). In the guppy, however, this enzyme is asso ciated with follicular cells {Lambert 196.6, as cited by Yama moto and Onozato, 1968). Ball (1960), on the other hand, pos tulates that an atretic follicle which has been invaded by granulosa cells is the structure responsible for the endocrine function of the ovary .. ' Dean and Jones (1958) chromatographically demonstrated the presence of progesteroue, estriol, estrone and estradiol- 17-B in ovarian extracts from lungfish (Protopterus annectens). Cytological sources of these sex steroids were not considered. However, the ovarian endocrine structures and functions of the bitterling were exhaustively investigated by Bretschneider and 7 ouyvene De w1t· (1947). Ovarian hormones usually affect the metabolism, behavior,·. and secondary sex characteristics of most female teleosts (Ball 1960, and Dean and Jones 1958) .f I ~,tt;._;,:•.,.,~i.:;;---·-·-·----~--li' ... __.......,'r!Dl_""UIJ-0_.... ~.;w:~··~Of:H-'ll"WT ...... lll.i! :illfOl~"l!lli~ ....i--WJ:~~'-h!;t, ____....... 8 Materials and Methods Sample Collecting Bluegills used throughout this research were obtained at the State Fish Hatchery in Spring Grove, Illinois. Each fish was assigned a number for purposes of recording data. Weight and length were recorded and scale samples were obtained from each specimen: Gonads