ABSTRACT
Oogenesis has been defined as the "processes involved in the growth and maturation of the ovum in preparation for fertilization."* Some biological definitions of oogenesis have diverged from the term's etymological origin, especially for teleosts where oogenesis has been sometimes narrowly defined as the transformation of oogonia into oocytes (deVlaming 1974; Selman and Wallace 1989; Wallace and Selman 1990; Tyler and Sumpter 1996; Khan and Thomas 1999). This chapter uses the term oogenesis to describe the morphological and functional processes by which oogonia transform into fertilizable eggs. This broader definition is consistent with the original meaning of the term and with its use in the current comparative reproduction literature (Lombardi 1998; Lessman 1999; Picton and Gosden 1999; Patino and Sullivan 2002).
