| Author Title Journal |
Hyman LH (1937) Reproductive system and copulation in Amphiscolops langerhansi (Turbellaria Acoela). Biol Bull (Woods Hole) 72:319-326. |
Abstract / Notes
Copulation has never been descr. in the turbellarian order Acoela. Observations at Bermuda on A. langerhansi show that the copulation attitude is similar to that of planarians. Copulation lasts about 50 min. and couples can be fixed without coming apart. Sections of such couples show that the penis does not insert into the [female] genital pore but that the penes are dovetailed together and a stream of sperm passes from each penis over the ant. edge of the partner's penis into the [female] pore and into the spaces in the seminal bursa. The body region immediately behind each penis is employed in copulation as a sperm guide directing the sperm into the partner's seminal bursa and preventing the escape of the sperm into the water.
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