Cutaneous application of an accessory-gland secretion after sperm exchange in a terrestrial slug (Mollusca: Pulmonata) |
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| Authors: | Mandy Benke Heike Reise Kora Montagne-Wajer Joris M Koene |
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| Institution: | 1. Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz, Am Museum 1, D-02826 Görlitz, Germany;2. Department of Animal Ecology, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, NL-1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands;3. Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26–32, D-35392 Giessen, Germany;1. Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Tropical Medicine, Research Center for the Neglected Diseases of Poverty, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, USA;2. State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China;3. Laboratorio de Laboratório de Esquistossomose, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz - FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil;4. Biomedical Sciences Program, Graduate School, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand;5. WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Control of Opisthorchiasis (Southeast Asian Liver Fluke Disease), Tropical Disease Research Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand;6. Brunel University London, Kingston Road, Uxbridge, UK;7. Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, Queensland Tropical Health Alliance, James Cook University, McGregor Rd, Smithfield, Cairns, Queensland 4878, Australia;1. Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Leibniz-Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Beutenbergstrasse 11a, D-07745 Jena, Germany;2. Friedrich Schiller University, D-07745 Jena, Germany;1. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong 266003, China;2. Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, Port Norris, NJ 08345, USA;3. UMR BOREA, “Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques”, MNHN, UPMC, UCBN, CNRS-7208, IRD, Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, Esplanade de la Paix, 14032 CAEN, France;1. Department of Aquatic Life Medicine, Pukyong National University, 599-1, Daeyeondong, Namgu, Busan 608-737, Republic of Korea;2. Aquatic Life Disease Control Division, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, Busan 619-902, Republic of Korea;1. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Kochi University, Kochi 783-8505, Japan;2. Department of Immunology, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Muntinlupa 1781, Philippines;3. Laboratory of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Kochi University, Kochi 780-8520, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Competition for fertilisation in hermaphroditic animals seems to have led to many odd behaviours and complex morphologies involved in the transfer of accessory-gland products to the partner. Terrestrial slugs of the genus Deroceras show remarkably elaborate and interspecifically diverse penis morphologies and mating behaviours. Most species have an appending penial gland, which in Deroceras panormitanum consists of a few long fingers that are everted after sperm exchange and laid onto the partner’s back. To investigate whether this gland transfers a secretion onto the partner’s skin, we killed slugs at different mating stages and studied their penial glands and skin histologically. Two types of secretion granules appeared at a very early stage of courtship, and the penial gland was already filled 15 min into the courtship. At copulation, the gland everted this secretion onto the partner’s body, where it remained for at least 50 min. No lysis of skin tissue or other effects on the skin were observed. The slugs tried to lick the received secretion off their own body, and some droplets were observed to be shed with the body mucus. Our results indicate the external application of a glandular substance that could function as either a pheromone or allohormone. The behaviours of the recipients suggest sexual conflict, although mutual interest cannot be ruled out. |
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