Biotemas (Mar 2007)
Morphology of the male genital organs in the coati (Nasua nasua, Linnaeus 1766)
Abstract
The objective of this work was to describe the morphology of the male genital organs in Nasua nasua. Five coati from the CECRIMPAS Scientific Breeding School were used (UNIfeob). The humanely sacrificed animals were fixed in formaldehyde solution 10% and were subsequently dissected. For light microscopic examination, pieces from the genital organs were used that had been processed and immersed in paraffin, cut and stained, for photo documentation. Macroscopically, the penis of the Nasua nasua was not suspended, but was stuck to the abdominal skin in two of the sexually immature animals, while in the three other mature animals, the penis was suspended between the pelvic members. Surrounding the most distal portion of the prepuce, a gland with a white, pasty secretion was observed. The head of the penis presented a proximal dilatation, hard to the touch, that was constituted on the widest part of baculum. The position of the testes inside the scrotum was horizontal. The prostate gland was in globoid form surrounding the urethra. Microscopically, the testes were coated by dense connective tissue, the tunica albuginea. The ductus epididymis was coated by pseudostratified epithelia with stereocilia. The urethra of the penis was surrounded by the corpus spongiosum and the remaining portion presented a corpus cavernosum (erectile tissue).
