Morphologic and Cytochemical Characteristics of Blood Cells from the European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) and the Mediterranean Pond Turtle (Mauremys leprosa)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Blood smears from European pond turtles, Emys orbicularis, and Mediterranean pond turtles, Mauremys leprosa, were evaluated to study their morphological and cytochemical properties. We performed morphological studies staining the smears with May-Grunwald-Giemsa and Quick panoptic. We studied cytochemical properties using stains for acid phosphatases, alkaline phosphatases, peroxidases, α-naphthyl acetate esterase, chloroacetate esterase, toluidine blue, and periodic acid-Schiff. We identified and described seven types of blood cells: erythrocytes, thrombocytes, basophils, eosinophils, heterophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes. Morphological and cytochemical properties of thrombocytes, lymphocytes, and monocytes were variable and inconsistent; therefore, these techniques were unable to characterize properly all blood cell types.