Hormonal Control of Sexual Differentiation and Reproduction in Crustacea

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Abstract
SYNOPSIS. Sexual differentiation in malacostracan Crustacea is controlled by the androgenic gland hormone (AGH). In males, the primordial androgenic glands (AG) develop and AGH induces male morphogenesis. In females, the primordial AG does not develop and the ovaries differentiate spontaneously. Implantation of the AG into females yields various results, showing that the sensitivity to AGH differs with the species and the receptive organs. Purified AGH of the isopod Armadillidium vulgare consists of at least two molecular forms, which exist as monomeric proteins with molecular weights of 17,000 ± 800 and 18,300 ± 1,000 Da and with isoelectric points of about 4.5 and 4.3, respectively. The antiserum raised against purified AGH makes it possible to measure AGH activity by immunoassay. Neurohormones control male and female reproduction. In males, they are involved in the maintenance of the male germinative zone and the control of AG activity. In females, the secondary vitellogenesis is controlled by the vitellogenesis-inhibiting hormone (VIH) and the vitellogenesis- stimulating hormone (VSH). VIH isolated from the lobster Homarus americanus is a peptide with a molecular weight of 9,135 Da and shows homology to the crustacean hyperglycemic hormone and moltinhibiting hormone. Involvement of the molting hormone and the juvenile hormone-like compound in the secondary vitellogenesis have also been suggested. In the amphipod Orchestia gammarella, the vitellogenesis- stimulating ovarian hormone (VSOH) seems to control vitellogenin synthesis

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