2B) comprising pediger 5, genital double-somite, three free abdominal somites, and caudal rami; pediger 5 acutely produced posterolaterally; genital somite incompletely fused to first abdominal somite with suture clearly visible;
gonopore covered by plate-like leg 6 with outer seta, small terminal spine, and minute subterminal prominence; copulatory pores paired, located at posterior one-third length; anal operculum weakly developed, fringed with spinular row dorsally.
The
gonopore processes are long and thin, and run backwards to end nearly halfway to the flexure.
10b) short and roughly triangular in shape with outer corner pointed, surrounding the
gonopore, with obscure sensillae at lateral sides of
gonopore above paramere, posterior margin slightly serrated and expanded distal margin; parameres very short, laterally concave, anteriorly broad, posteriorly averted with rounded blunt terminal ends, may without terminal microseta.
The cavity wall is not flexible and the
gonopore is approximately under the middle cavity space.
10 and 11) with paired short apical processes, preatrium little longer than aedeagal shaft, dorsal apodeme small in lateral view,
gonopore apical on ventral surface.
Size at 50% maturity ([SM.sub.50]) could not be determined with chela or abdomen allometry, but [SM.sub.50] was estimated at 61.6 mm in carapace length for females on the basis of
gonopore condition.
"I spent quite a bit of time reading the paper, " she writes, "and in doing so, I learned a few useful words, like annulate, epididymal,
gonopore and nephridial."
Because the endosoma was broken during dissection, our drawing shows a fracture line just distad of the secondary
gonopore. This specimen is missing the possess arising near the secondary
gonopore (see characters 19 and 28 in Weirauch, 2007) that is diagnostic for all other species of Leptidolon.
The
gonopore region of undissected males was conspicuous just below the styli, but the aedeagus was not visible (Figure 5).
In poeciliids, males use a modified anal fin (gonopdium) to transfer sperm to the female
gonopore. As males mature, the third, fourth, and fifth anal fin rays elongate to form the gonopodium on which distal armaments such as hooks, elbows and serrae develop (Rosen and Gordon, 1953; Chambers, 1987).
From this position males move to nip at the female's
gonopore similar to other poeciliids.