Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata AgassizLegler, John M.
Science
Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz
Legler, John M.
Ornate box turtle
By late August, clusters of sperm and metamorphosing spermatids
surround the Sertoli cells; large numbers of sperm as well as sloughed
cells representing various spermatogenic stages are present in the
lumina. Secondary spermatocytes are still evident near the periphery
of the tubules but they are much less numerous than spermatids. The
germinal epithelium is still semiactive and small groups of primary
spermatocytes are present in nearly all of the tubules.
The spermatogenic cycle is completed in the latter half of October
when most of the spermatozoa pass into the epididymides. A few
spermatozoa and spermatids remain in the seminiferous tubules during
hibernation. Although no testicular material was obtained from
hibernating turtles, comparisons of sections made in October and April
show that the germinal epithelium remains inactive from autumn until
spring. Possibly some spermiogenesis takes place in the early phases
of hibernation or in the period in late autumn when turtles are
intermittently active. It is uncertain whether the reorganization of
the sustentacular cytoplasm occurs in autumn, in spring, or in the
course of hibernation.
The seminiferous tubules of immature males are small, lack lumina, and
contain a few large but inactive spermatogonia (Pl. 19, Fig. 6). The
testes of specimens that were nearly mature contained primary and
secondary spermatocytes but lacked lumina; it was thought that such
individuals would have matured in the following summer and bred in the
following autumn.
Mature sperm were found in epididymides at all times of the year but
were most numerous in spring and autumn, the period between
spermatogenic cycles (Pl. 19, Fig. 7). Sperm expelled from the
epididymides in autumn matings are seemingly replaced by others from
the seminiferous tubules; the epididymides become much smaller when
their supply of sperm is nearly exhausted after spring mating.
Risley (1938:304) found the testes of the common musk turtle,
_Sternotherus odoratus_, to be largest in August and smallest in early
May. Recession of testes in spring was coincident with the period of
active breeding; increase in size, later in the season, corresponded
to increasing spermatogenic activity and enlargement of seminiferous
tubules. Altland (1951:600-603) found the spermatogenic cycle of
_Terrapene carolina_ to be nearly like that of _Sternotherus
odoratus_. Fox (1952) found that testes of garter snakes (_Thamnophis
sirtalis_ and _T. elegans_) in California reached a peak of
spermatogenic activity in midsummer, regressed in the latter half of
the summer, and were inactive in winter.
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