Spermiogenesis and modified sperm morphology in the "seepworm" Methanoaricia dendrobranchiata (Polychaeta: Orbiniidae) from a methane seep environment in the Gulf of Mexico: implications for fertilization biology.

Spermatogenesis and mature sperm morphology have been described along with limited observations of the ovary in Methanoaricia dendrobranchiata, an orbiniid polychaete associated with dense populations of the mussel Bathymodiolus childressi at brine pools on the Louisiana slope, Gulf of Mexico. The species is gonochoric with gonads serially repeated in numerous segments and each associated with a nexus of blood vessels at the base of the parapodia. In the female, synchronous, intraovarian egg development occurs with the release from the ovary of large, yolky eggs into the coelom at first meiotic metaphase. Sperm develop in the coelom as free-floating, plasmodial clones interconnected via an anuclear cytophore. At the end of spermiogenesis, mature spermatozoa float freely in the coelom. The mature spermatozoon differs significantly from that of shallow-water orbiniid species by possessing an elongated nucleus and a greatly elongated and curved acrosome reaching 19.5 microm in length. The spermatozoon resembles an ent-aquasperm and may not fertilize the eggs directly in seawater in the classical manner. We hypothesize that the unusual spermatozoon morphology in this species has evolved due to the hypoxic environment in which the adults live and that fertilization biology is likely modified in some way to minimize sperm exposure to high levels of hydrogen sulfide. An analysis of life-history features in shallow-water orbiniids is used to infer reproductive features in M. dendrobranchiata that could not be directly documented.