4. The sword and the missile: A comparative interpretation of the copulatory apparatus of the apple-snail Pomacea canaliculata

GAMARRA-LUQUES CD, KOCH E, VEGA IA, ALBRECHT EA, CASTRO-VAZQUEZ A

San Luis

Congreso; XIX Reunión Científica Anual de la Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo; 2001

Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo

Mammalian penes are structures that, like a sword, should be properly directed to its target by the male´s movements. Contrariwise, the male snail attaches quietly to the female´s shell, while its penial sheath wriggles into the female´s mantle cavity, as a self propelled, target-seeking missile. Zencker-fixed male genitalia were cut serially to disclose the complex structures involved. The penile sheath is a haemolymphatic sponge made of connective fibers and of a muscular arrange that may be involved in pumping fluid into the wriggling sponge. Components of an apparently paracrine epithelioid system are also found. Finally, thick nerves with numerous intersped  ganglion cells, run from the base to the penile tip, where many fusiform (apparently sensory) neurons are found.