A histological study on oogenesis and oocyte membrane of Korean four catfishes, Liobagrus obesus, L. mediadiposalis, Pseudobagrus koreanus, and P. brevicorpus were comparatively performed by light and electron microscopes. The developmental stage of t...
A histological study on oogenesis and oocyte membrane of Korean four catfishes, Liobagrus obesus, L. mediadiposalis, Pseudobagrus koreanus, and P. brevicorpus were comparatively performed by light and electron microscopes. The developmental stage of the oocyte in four species was similar to each other. The oogenesis could be divided into three stages : multiplication stage of oogonium, growth stage having two stages which consisted of the earliest oocyte stage consisted of chromatin-nucleolus and perinucleous stage and the latest stage of vitellogenesis forming yolk vesicles and yolk granules, and maturation stage.
In early yolk vesicle stage, a dramatic change occurs at the follicular layer. At the this stage, the initial follicular cell layer becomes bilaminar with the retention of its outer squamous cell layer and the acquisition of an inner cuboidal cell layer just over the zona radiata. As the vitellogenesis proceeds, the cuboidal cells begin to be replaced by columnar cells. As the oocyte grows, the columnar cells increase in size. The columnar cells produce cytoplasmic neutral mucins and by the end of this stage their cytoplasm has been filled with this mucin. In maturation stage, a single layer of squamous cells still remained as the outer follicular layer of the oocyte. The secretory activity of the inner follicular layers' columnar cells has ceased, they had lost their cell wall integrity. Their deposits showed two types in appearances, vacuolar (Liobagrus obesus and L. mediadiposalis) and granular types (Pseudobagrus koreanus and P. brevicorpus) and functioned as an adhesive apparatus. The architectural structure of the egg membrane in four species seems to related to their habitats and spawning characteristics.