L'examen macroscopique, histologique et cytologique des ovaires de Barbus holotaenia adultes récoltés dans le bassin de la Luki entre juillet 1986 et septembre 1988 a permis de décrire six stades de développement des ovaires et sept stades au niveau des ovocytes et des follicules. Quelques conclusions biologiques et écologiques sont tirées de ces différentes observations. La fécondité individuelle partielle est comprise entre 0,005 et 0,018 ovocytes par kg de la masse du poisson.

A protocol for the incubation of Centropristis striata ovarian follicles in vitro from females that spawn repeatedly under laboratory conditions was developed. Isolated follicles underwent maturation after 15–24 h of incubation at 25 °C in 75% Leibovitz L-15 medium, containing relatively low doses of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) or homologous pituitary extract (50% response with approximately 2 IU/ml and 0.02 pituitary equivalents/ml, respectively). During maturation in vitro, follicles underwent a remarkable volume increase (about 340%) that was correlated with proteolysis of primarily the largest yolk proteinin the oocyte. The maturation response of follicles to hCG was size-dependent within a range from 400 to 600 m in diameter, with a maximum response displayed by 530–600 m follicles. The response of these follicles to hCG was not inhibited within a range of incubation temperatures from 15 to 28 °C, but the length of time required for the follicles to achieve 50% maturation was negatively correlated with increasing temperatures (r2 = 0.97; p ≤ 0.01). However, the largest follicles (530–600 μm) did not undergo maturation in response to high doses (1 μg/ml) of the major maturation-inducing steroids (MISs) known in teleosts, 17.20-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17.20β) and 17.20β.21-trihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (20βS), even after a previous incubation period of follicles with 10 IU/ml hCG for 1.3 or 6 h. These observations indicate that C. striata follicles are very sensitive to increasing doses of gonadotropin, and that their responsiveness to this hormone is highly size-dependent within a very narrow range. The preliminary results also suggest that 17.20β and 20βS are not the MIS in this species.

Normal variations of ovarian glycogen content and the effect of different doses of thyroxine (T4) on this cellular constituent were investigated from 3rd day of fifth larval instar to adult emergence in Bombyx mori L. Ovarian glycogen remained higher during fifth larval stage with a peak on 7th day. At the end of 5th larval stage the glycogen content declined and this lower level continued upto 4th day of pupal age. Thereafter, this cellular constituent again sharply increased and reached a peak on pupal day 6, followed by a fall upto adult emergence. A single injection of different doses (0.5, 1, 2 and 5 μg/g body weight) of thyroxine, caused a significant decrease in glycogen content of ovary, during larval stage and an increase during pupal and adult stages of development with few exceptions. Thyroxine at the doses of 0.1 and 0.25 μg/g remained ineffective throughout the study period with an exception on day 2 after injection. The specific pattern of variation of the ovarian glycogen content as observed during normal stages of development was not altered by thyroxin though this hormone changed the level of glycogen. Thus, the results indicated that both glycogenolysis and glycogenesis occur in ovary after thyroxine treatment.

L'histologie des gonades de 187 mâles et 149 femelles de Myleus ternetzi pêchés dans des rivières guyanaises a été étudiée. Les stades et le cycle de la spermatogenèse ont été analysés à l'aide d'une méthode téréologique. L'ovogenèse a été étudiée et le stade de maturation de chaque femelle déterminé. La vitellogenèse est discontinue et au moins trois pontes pourraient avoir lieu lors de la saison de reproduction. La fécondité relative est d'environ 10 000 ovocytes par kilogramme par ponte. Bien que aptes à se reproduire toute l'année, la plupart des Myleus ternetzi se reproduiraient juste avant la grande saison des pluies.

Thirty eight Satanoperca aff. leucosticta were collected in French Guyana rivers and the histology of the gonads was studied. While the structure of the ovaries follows the general pattern known for other cichlids, previtellogenic oocytes are present in the outer layer of all the testes, whatever the spermatogenetic stage. These oocytes never grow nor mature. Histological observation of all of the gonads has not revealed whether this cichlid is hermaphroditic or gonochoristic.

Specimens belonging to 20 species (7 families) of catfishes have been collected in French Guyana. The anatomy and histology of the male reproductive tracts have been studied. In the most primitivespecies (Helogeneidae, Ariidae) no seminal vesicle is present in the males. In the Pimelodidae,Loricariidae and Callichthyidae (and also in an african Bagridae), there is a progressive transition, going from anterior to posterior in the male tract, from testicular tissue towards round germ cell-free tubules and finally to seminal vesicular tissue. All these families produce round-headed spermatozoa and have external fertilization. The Auchenipteridae and Ageneiosidae are characterized by elongated sperm nuclei, internal fertilization with the aid of a gonopodium and sperm storage in the ovaries. In the Auchenipteridae there is a clear-cut distinction between testes and seminal vesicles. In the Ageneiosidae there is no seminal vesicle, but the dilated deferent duct displays a high secretory activity. Depending on the family and species, the seminal vesicles may carry out either one or both of the two main functions: secretion and sperm storage. In addition, in some species, sperm is also stored in one or two accessory pouches until fertilization. The trends that we have observed in the changes in the organization of the reproductive tracts are in agreement with the hypotheses proposed for catfish evolution from comparative anatomical data.

Polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis (PAGE) was performed on soluble proteins from the fat body, haemolymph (male and female), and ovary of the adult fresh water-bug, Laccotrephes rubra, in order to determine their protein patterns. The electrophoresis resulted in the separation of 16 and 17 protein components in male and female haemolymph respectively. In female fat body extracts 15 protein bands could be detected; whereas ovary extracts resolved into 11 protein bands only. Comparison of the electropherograms of protein pattern of fat body (FBPP), haemolymph (HPP) and ovary (OPP) revealed that the extra band present in the female haemolymph is common to both female fat body and ovary, which is suggestive of it being the female specific protein, i.e. vitellogenin. A careful examination of the various electropherograms further revealed that the majority of the protein bands of haemolymph and ovary are common to its corresponding fat body protein bands. This might suggest that the ovary derives most of its protein components from the surrounding haemolymph, which have presumably been synthesized and secreted by the fat body.

The histochemical analyses demonstrated that the female-specific protein band is a glycolipoprotein; and most of the haemolymph protein zones stain as glycoprotein, lipoprotein or ribonucleoprotein. ‘Stains-all’ technique however, revealed the presence of four possible RNA bands in fat body extracts.