Sperm

A sperm cell (or spermatozoön) is the haploid cell that is the male gamete. A sperm cell can fertilize an egg cell (called an oocyte) to form a zygote, which can grow into a new organism. This is where human babies come from.

Sperm is carried in the fluid called semen.

In humans, sperm cells consists of head 0.005 by 0.003 mm and tail 0.05 mm long. The tail flagellates, which propels the sperm cell. The cell is characterized by a minimum of cytoplasm.

Sperm cells were first observed by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek in 1679.

(1) Acrosome (2) Cell membrane (3) Nucleus (4) Mitochondria (5) Tail (flagella)