Abstract
Morphological study of the epididymis of jurara 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.
Highlights
Brazil has 35 chelonians species distributed in its various terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, among which 28 species are freshwater, 2 are terrestrial, and 5 are marine turtles (SBH, 2005)
The research was developed under the Authorization 26136-1 from the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) and approved by the Ethics and Animal Research Committee from the Veterinary Medicine Course of the State University of Maranhao (UEMA), under the Protocol 011/2010
The animals were collected at regular intervals during the year and divided into four experimental groups in the rainy and dry seasons; the rainy season consists of collections conducted in March 2011 (n = 5) and June 2011 (n = 5) and the dry season consists of collections conducted in December 2010 (n = 5) and September 2011 (n = 5)
Summary
Brazil has 35 chelonians species distributed in its various terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, among which 28 species are freshwater, 2 are terrestrial, and 5 are marine turtles (SBH, 2005). The Kinosternidae family consists of small to medium sized semi-aquatic species, distributed from Canada to South America (ERNST; BARBOUR, 1989). In the Brazilian Amazon, one can find only 1 species in this family, Kinosternon scorpioides, popularly known as mucua in the state of Para and as scorpion mud turtle in the state of Maranhao (ROCHA; MOLINA, 1987). The scorpion mud turtle is preferably an aquatic species and it inhabits both stagnant and flowing water, being able to develop a semi-aquatic behavior (PRITCHARD; TREBBAU, 1984). It displays a shell with three apparent keels, especially the median keel, which goes through the shell in the longitudinal direction (VANZOLINI et al, 1980)
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