Sex change and sequential hermaphroditism in Tegillarca granosa (Bivalvia: Arcidae)

Abstract

This study aimed to confirm sex change in Tegillarca granosa to determine whether this species is a sequential hermaphrodite. Samples of bivalves were divided into two groups, namely, a 1+ year class (14 months) and a 2+ year class (26 months), for analysis. At the beginning of the study, 44.3% of T. granosa were female, and after one year, this increased to 53.9% in the same population. The increase of females in the population was greater in the 1+ year class (12.3%), when compared with the 2+ year class (6.5%). Overall, a sex change ratio of 15.1% (n = 104/688) was recorded for T. granosa. The sex change ratio of the 1+ year class (17.8%) was higher than that of the 2+ year class (12.1%), and displayed the tendency of being higher in the males (21.2%), than the females (6.2%). The results of this study indicate that T. granosa is a sequential hermaphrodite.

Keywords:

• Mollusca
• germ cell aspiration
• histology

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank three anonymous reviewers for suggestions that improved the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

Funding. This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea [grant number NRF-2011-0014932]; National Fisheries Research and Development Institute of Korea (NFRDI) [grant number RP-2014-AQ-048].