Morphological study of epididymides in the scorpion mud turtle in natural habitat (Kinosternon scorpioides – Linnaeus, 1976)

• Autor(a) principal: Viana, Diego Carvalho
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Rui, Leandro Almeida, Miglino, Maria Angélica, Araujo, Lianne Polianne Fernandes, Oliveira, Antonia Santos, de Sousa, Alana Lislea
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Biotemas (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/biotemas/article/view/2175-7925.2013v26n2p153

Morphological study of the epididymis of jurará in natural habitat (Kinosternon scorpioides – Linnaeus, 1976). In the state of Maranhao, Brazil, one can find the freshwater chelonian Kinosternon scorpioides, known as scorpion mud turtle, which has social, economic, and environmental value. Twenty adult scorpion mud turtles were collected in the months of March, June, September, and December, corresponding to the two periods of the year: the rainy and dry seasons. The epididymides were collected from each animal to check the existence of reproductive seasonality. The organs were evaluated through light, scanning electron, and transmission microscopy and analyzed at the epididymal epithelium height and the tubular and luminal diameters. The epididymides were divided into rete testis, ductuli efferentes, and ductus epididymis. In the rainy season, they presented stereo ciliated pseudostratified epithelium; in the dry season, they were characterized by simple, cubic, and non-ciliated cells. The morphometry of the tubular and luminal diameters and the epididymal epithelium height showed moments of epithelial alternation over the studied periods, with the highest averages in the rainy season, within the reproductive period. Spermatozoids were observed throughout the year, although their viability couldn’t be evaluated. Taking into account the data obtained, one may claim that the scorpion mud turtle presents reproductive seasonality.