Purpose To grasp the gonadal differentiation and development law of Cichlasoma managuense, and to systematically describe the morphological structure, characteristics and changes of the testis and ovary in each stage.
Methods Paraffin section was used to study the structure and phase of gonadal development in C. managuense.
Results The development of testis and ovary of C. managuense could be divided into six stages. At 30-day of age, the gonads began to differentiate. The development of ovary belonged to batch asynchrony type, which meant the egg-laying was in batch asynchrony. Stage Ⅰ of ovary development appeared at 34-day of age; stage Ⅱ appeared at 64-day of age; stage Ⅲ was divided into the primary, middle and later periods, appearing at 120-, 140- and 165-day of age; stage Ⅳ was also divided into the primary, middle and later periods, appearing at 180-, 200- and 247-day of age; stage Ⅴ appeared at 282-day of age, reaching sexual maturity, and the body weight was (9.70±2.20) g; and then got into stage Ⅵ gradually. Testis belonged to lobular type and developed a little later than the ovary. Stage Ⅰ of testis appeared at 64-day of age; stage Ⅱ appeared at 110-day of age; stage Ⅲ appeared at 180-day of age; stage Ⅳ appeared at 320-day of age; stage Ⅴ appeared at 350-day of age, reaching sexual maturity, and the body weight was (40.77±18.20) g; and then got into stage Ⅵ gradually.
Conclusion The development of ovary is earlier and faster than the testis, resulting in the asynchronous maturation of male and female. It is necessary to accelerate the development of testis by artificial induction and other techniques to improve the efficiency of artificial reproduction. This study provides data support for C. managuense breeding and research on precision sex-controlled breeding techniques.
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