Morphofunctional features of the gonads of the male mustelids and canids in the quiescent season

The purpose of research is to study the morphofunctional state of the testes of the American mink and silver fox during the dormant season. Tasks: to study the morphofunctional state of the testes of male American mink; to study the morphofunctional state of the testes of males of the silver-black fox; to carry out statistical processing of the data obtained in relation to the testes in the studied animals. The studies were carried out at the Omsk State Agrarian University (Omsk Region). The objects of the study are sexually mature males in the amount of five heads in each group. Histological, morphological, morphometric and statistical research methods were used. In representatives of the mustelid and canine families, the own vaginal membrane of the testis is tightly fused with the albuginea. The parenchyma of the testis is represented by straight and convoluted seminiferous tubules, which have a different shape and size. The convoluted tubules vary considerably in the presence and size of the free lumen or its absence. The change in the diameter of the convoluted seminiferous tubules is directly related to the change in the thickness of the layer of cells of the spermatogenic epithelium. With a decrease in the thickness of the epithelium, the functional activity of the testis decreases. The wall of the convoluted tubule consists of its own membrane and spermatogenic epithelium, which covers the basement membrane and includes epithelial and spermatogenic cells that occupy the entire thickness of the layer from the basement membrane to the lumen of the tubule. In the parenchyma of the testis, different stages of spermatogenesis are traced, which indicates the continuity of the processes of spermatogenesis in the testes, not only during the rut period, but also at rest. The convoluted tubules exit the lobules into the mediastinum and pass into straight tubules, which intertwine with each other and form the testis network. The thickness of the vaginal and albuginea is slightly greater in the right testis. The proper sheath of the convoluted tubule, the diameter of the lumen of the convoluted tubule and the diameter of the convoluted tubule are slightly larger in the left testis.