Secondary oocyte & ovum

[regeneration]

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When ovulation happens, is a secondary oocyte or a ovum released? I thought that secondary oocytes were stuck in metaphase of meosis and didn't mature into ovums until after fertilization. However, I have seen several questions that imply that ovums are what are released from the uterus during menstruation when there is no fertilization. Wouldn't secondary oocytes actually be released?

 

[osprey099]

When ovulation happens, is a secondary oocyte or a ovum released? I thought that secondary oocytes were stuck in metaphase of meosis and didn't mature into ovums until after fertilization. However, I have seen several questions that imply that ovums are what are released from the uterus during menstruation when there is no fertilization. Wouldn't secondary oocytes actually be released?

when ovulation occurs, the egg (secondary oocyte) is released. It is stuck in metaphase II until fertilization. ovum is the same thing as a secondary oocyte (I may be wrong about this)

 

[MedPR]

when ovulation occurs, the egg (secondary oocyte) is released. It is stuck in metaphase II until fertilization. ovum is the same thing as a secondary oocyte (I may be wrong about this)

Yea this is correct. Ovum and secondary oocyte are interchangeable. Some people call it an immature ovum and consider it an "ovum" only after fertilization.. I call a fertilized ovum a zygote though.

 

[image187]

2 different things but I think the MCAT will try and test more broad (and important) concepts lol. An "ovum" is an egg, which is blasted out of the ovary after the LH surge during ovulation. The egg contains
the secondary oocyte within, which is the germ cell that combines with sperm in fertilization. It also contains protective layering called the corona radiata