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  • Title: Regionalization of eccrine and spermiophagic activity in spermathecae of the salamander Eurycea cirrigera (Amphibia: Plethodontidae).
    Author: Sever DM, Brunette NS.
    Journal: J Morphol; 1993 Aug; 217(2):161-170. PubMed ID: 29865466.
    Abstract:
    The spermathecae of female Eurycea cirrigera are compound alveolar glands; narrow neck tubules connect the distal bulbs to a common tube that opens onto the roof of the cloaca. The common tube and neck tubules produce apical secretory vacuoles that contain a periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)+ substance for merocrine export into the lumen. This substance is produced throughout the year, although secretory vacuoles are less numerous during the period of reproductive inactivity in the summer. When sperm are present, the product from the secretory vacuoles bathes sperm in the lumen. Sperm are in orderly arrays and never are embedded in the cytoplasm of the common tube or neck tubules. The distal bulbs do not produce PAS+ secretory vacuoles, and are actively spermiophagic as long as sperm are present. Sperm become embedded in the epithelium of the distal bulbs where lysosomes degrade sperm. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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