Unraveling post-copulatory sexual selection mechanisms in cephalopods: morphology of the squid's seminal receptacle applying confocal microscopy and 3D reconstruction

• Grant number: 15/15447-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: March 01, 2016
• End date: May 15, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Morphology of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: José Eduardo Amoroso Rodriguez Marian
• Grantee: Luiza de Oliveira Saad
• Supervisor: Andreas Wanninger
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Vienna, Austria
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/11008-5 - Function and evolution of the seminal receptacle in Decapodiformes (Mollusca: Cephalopoda): unraveling postcopulatory sexual selection mechanisms in cephalopods, BP.MS

Abstract

Sexual selection has a crucial role in the evolution of reproductive traits. Males use several strategies to ensure fertilization, but females also play a major role in pre and post-copulatory processes. Cephalopods transfer sperm packed within spermatophores, and in some cases females bear specialized organs for sperm storage (i.e., seminal receptacles). However, the morphology of these organs and their functioning (e.g., sperm uptake, storage and release by the seminal receptacles) remain poorly known. In recent years, integrative microscopy techniques have increasingly been applied to morphology investigations. Particularly, specialized micromorphological tools, such as Confocal Scanning Laser Microscopy and 3D reconstruction, revealed to be very insightful for anatomical purposes. Based on this scenario, this project aims at investigating the muscular and nerve system associated with the squid seminal receptacle, using a model organism (Doryteuthis plei) and applying Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy. This proposal is a complement of an ongoing MSc thesis that is applying light and electron microscopy techniques to better understand the functioning of this organ, and its role in capture and storage of sperm, as a basis for understanding post-copulatory sexual selection mechanisms in cephalopods. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

APOSTOLICO, LIGIA HASELMANN; AMOROSO RODRIGUEZ MARIAN, JOSE EDUARDO. Cephalopod mating systems as models for the study of sexual selection and alternative reproductive tactics: a review. BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, v. 96, n. 2, SI, p. 375-398, APR 2020. (14/11008-5, 15/15447-6, 17/16182-1, 13/02653-1, 18/19180-2)

MARIAN, JOSE E. A. R.; APOSTOLICO, LIGIA H.; CHIAO, CHUAN-CHIN; HANLON, ROGER T.; HIROHASHI, NORITAKA; IWATA, YOKO; MATHER, JENNIFER; SATO, NORIYOSI; SHAW, PAUL W.. Male Alternative Reproductive Tactics and Associated Evolution of Anatomical Characteristics in Loliginid Squid. FRONTIERS IN PHYSIOLOGY, v. 10, OCT 15 2019. (13/02653-1, 18/19180-2, 14/11008-5, 15/15447-6, 17/16182-1)

SAAD, LUIZA O.; SCHWAHA, THOMAS; HANDSCHUH, STEPHAN; WANNINGER, ANDREAS; MARIAN, JOSE E. A. R.. A mating plug in a squid? Sneaker spermatophores can block the female sperm-storage organ in Doryteuthis plei. ZOOLOGY, v. 130, p. 47-56, OCT 2018. (15/15447-6, 14/11008-5)

APOSTOLICO, LIGIA HASELMANN; AMOROSO RODRIGUEZ MARIAN, JOSE EDUARDO. Cephalopod mating systems as models for the study of sexual selection and alternative reproductive tactics: a review. BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, v. 96, n. 2, p. 24-pg., 2020-04-01. (17/16182-1, 18/19180-2, 13/02653-1, 15/15447-6, 14/11008-5)