Ovulation and placentation in Botryllus schlosseri(Ascidiacea): An ultrastructural study.

The mode of ovulation and placentation was studied by light and electron microscopy in the ovoviviparous ascidian Botryllus schlosseri using colonies from the laboratory. The full-grown oocyte is surrounded by the outer and inner follicle cell layers, the acellular vitelline coat (chorion), and the test cells, and it is furnished with its own vesicular oviduct which is interposed between the egg and the atrial epithelium. In contrast to most ascidians, the outer follicle is thick and has an ultrastructure consistent with intense protein synthesis. At ovulation the outer follicle shows signs of involution where it contacts the oviduct. When the oviducal wall breaks and the egg moves through the oviduct, the outer follicle cells are discharged in the mantle to form a sort of corpus luteum. The egg remains hanging in the atrial chamber by means of a cuplike "placenta." The placental tissues are all of maternal origin, being derived from both the atrial and oviducal epithelia together with some of the inner follicle cells. These latter anchor to the oviducal epithelium by means of junctional spots and a filamentous cementing secretion. Our results suggest that the main role of the "placenta" is to attach the embryo to the parent, thus exposing it to the flow of seawater.