FINE-STRUCTURE OF SPERM AND SPERMIOGENESIS IN PROKOENENIA-WHEELERI (RUCKER, 1901) (PALPIGRADI, ARACHNIDA)

Spermatozoa of Prokoenenia wheeleri have a spheroid part which contains a large vacuole and a smaller appendage in which chromatin filaments and a specialized acrosome are located. The flagellum is missing. In early spermatids rich in rough ER the vacuole is secreted from several Golgi apparatus. Later spermatids show an elongation of the part in which the nucleus and acrosoma are situated. This appendage is coiled around the vacuolated part of the cell. Finally, the cell membranes between the neighboring coils disappear. Spermatozoa and Spermiogenesis of Palpigradi must be considered apomorphic. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.