Gonadal Changes during the Annual Reproductive Cycle of the Ascidian Halocynthia aurantium (Pallas)

The ascidian Halocynthia aurantium (sea peach), a marine invertebrate, belongs to the same genus of the phylum Chordata along with the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi (sea pineapple), which is one of the model animals in the field of developmental biology. The characteristics of development and reproduction of H. aurantium are not yet known in detail. In order to find out the spawning period of H. aurantium, we investigated development of the gonads during the annual reproductive cycle. Testis and ovary were both in the bisexual gonads (ovotestes) of H. aurantium, which is a hermaphrodite like H. roretzi. In H. aurantium, the right gonad was longer and slightly larger than the left gonad throughout the year. In each gonad, the number of the testis gonoducts was slightly higher than that of the ovary gonoducts. These features were similarly observed in H. roretzi. However, the number of the testis gonoducts and the ovary gonoducts in each gonad of H. aurantium was about half that of H. roretzi. The gonads of H. aurantium contracted during the winter and summer seasons. The gonads decreased to the smallest size around February, and then started to increase again in March. The gonads were most developed in September of the year. Therefore, it is estimated that the spawning of H. aurantium begins around this period.