Light and electron microscopic studies on the epididymis of the dromedary camel

The present work was conducted on eighty eight epididymis ofsexually mature camels all above 7 year old, collected from Zagazigslaughter house.The efferent ductules were 6-7 in number, originated from the extratesticular rete testis sac.The epididymis could be divided into initial, middle and terminalsegments. The middle segment was further subdivided into proximal,intermediate and distal parts. The epididymis showed a slight seasonaldifference in weight and length in rutting (December to March) and nonrutting season (April to June). The average weight in rutting season wasabout 18.3 gm and in non rutting season was about 14.5 gm. The averagelength in rutting season was about 14.4 cm and in non rutting season wasabout 13.25 cm.Morphometrical studies of the epididymal duct revealed that thewidest lumen was seen in the terminal segment in smmner (31? 8 5 urn).the thickest muscular coat was observed in the terminal segment in spring(45.27 urn). The highest epithelium and longest stereocilia were detectedin the initial segment in winter (91. 73 urn) and in spring (17.42 urn).At both light and ultrastructural level the efferent ductules werelined by simple columnar ciliated and non ciliated cells. The non ciliatedcells were the predominent cell type. Other cell type was the halo cellswhich was highly frequent in the efferent ductules, mostly incontact with the basal lamina.