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Histological variation along and ultrastructural organization of the epithelium of the ductus epididymidis of the fan‐throated lizard Sitana ponticeriana Cuvier
Author(s) -
Akbarsha Mohammad A.,
Kadalmani Balamuthu,
Tamilarasan Veeramuthu
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
acta zoologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.414
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1463-6395
pISSN - 0001-7272
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-6395.2006.00231.x
Subject(s) - biology , epithelium , lizard , ultrastructure , anatomy , basal (medicine) , endocytosis , stratified squamous epithelium , cell , pathology , zoology , endocrinology , medicine , genetics , insulin
The epididymis of the fan‐throated lizard Sitana ponticeriana was subjected to light and transmission electron microscopic analysis to find the histological variation along the ductus epididymidis, describe the various cell types in the epithelium and compare the resulting descriptions with what is known for other reptiles and for amniotes. The ductus epididymidis of this lizard is differentiated along its length into four histologically distinct zones, initial segment, caput, corpus and cauda. The first three zones appear to be associated with secretion and absorption/endocytosis whereas the cauda appears to be concerned with absorption/endocytosis and storage. The epithelium consists of six different cell types, principal, narrow, apical, clear, basal and intraepithelial leucocytes as in the mammals. Principal cells, basal cells and intraepithelial leucocytes are present along the entire length. Narrow cells and apical cells are confined to the initial segment whereas clear cells occur in the cauda only. The principal cells from the initial segment to the corpus produce biphasic secretion granules measuring 1–2 µm in diameter. This paper reports on four histologically distinct zones along the length of the ductus epididymidis of the lizard S. ponticeriana and six different cell types in the lining epithelium.