Postspawning Destruction of Male Gametes in Polycyclic and Monocyclic Bony Fishes: Pointhead Flounder, Cleisthenes herzensteini Schmidt (Pleuronectidae) and Chum Salmon, Oncorhynchus keta Walbaum (Salmonidae)

The process of the destruction of nonreleased spermatozoa was studied using TEM in the postspawning gonads of the chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta and the pointhead flounder Cleisthenes herzensteini, as representatives of monocyclic and polycyclic fishes respectively. It was shown that in both species residual sperm cells are destroyed through fragmentation of chromatin and the entire cell. It is supposed that the process of destruction in this case is connected with autolytic disintegration known in some multicellular animals, but never described for Teleostei.