Testes

In anurans, amniotes (reptiles, birds, and mammals), and even some teleosts, testes are composed largely of seminiferous tubules—coiled tubes, the walls of which contain cells that produce sperm—and are surrounded by a capsule, the tunica albuginea. Seminiferous tubules may constitute up to 90 percent of the testis. The tubule walls consist of a multilayered germinal epithelium containing spermatogenic cells and Sertoli cells, nutritive cells that have the heads of maturing sperm embedded in them. Seminiferous tubules may begin blindly at the tunic, or outermost tissue layer, and pass toward the centre, becoming tortuous before emptying into a system of collecting tubules, the rete testis. Such an arrangement is characteristic of frogs. In certain amniotes—the rat, for example—the tubules may be open ended, running a zigzag course from the rete to the periphery and back again. The average length of such tubules is 30 centimetres (12 inches), and they seldom communicate with each other. In many mammals the tubules are grouped into lobules separated by connective-tissue septa, or walls. The arrangement permits the packing of an extensive amount of germinal epithelium into a small space. In immature males and in adult males between breeding seasons, the tubules are inconspicuous and the epithelium is inactive; in some species, however, spermatogenesis, or production of sperm, proceeds at a variable pace throughout the year. An active epithelium may exhibit all stages of developing sperm. The lumen, or tubule cavity, contains the tails of many sperm (the heads of which are embedded in Sertoli cells), free sperm, and fluid that is probably resorbed. In mammals, in any single zone along a tubule, all sperm are at the same stage of maturation; adjacent zones contain different generations of sperm, and a period of sperm formation and discharge is followed by an interval of inactivity.

In cyclostomes, most fishes, and tailed amphibians the germinal epithelium is arranged differently. Instead of seminiferous tubules there are large numbers of spermatogonial cysts (also called spermatocysts, sperm follicles, ampullae, crypts, sacs, acini, and capsules) in which sperm develop, but in which the epithelium is not germinal. Spermatogenic cells migrate into the cysts from a permanent germinal layer, which, depending on the species, may lie among cysts at the periphery of the testes or in a ridge along one margin of the testis. After invading the thin nongerminal epithelium of a cyst, spermatogenic cells multiply, producing enormous numbers of sperm. The cysts become greatly swollen and whitish in colour; the entire testis also swells and has a granular appearance. As sperm mature, they separate from the epithelium and move freely in the cystic fluid. Finally, the cysts burst, and the sperm are shed into ducts. In the case of cyclostomes and a few teleosts the sperm are shed into the coelom. The cysts, totally emptied, collapse. Then either they are replaced by new ones, or they become repopulated by additional spermatogenic cells. It is not yet known which of these processes occurs.

Testicular stroma, which fills the spaces between seminiferous tubules or spermatogenic cysts, consists chiefly of connective tissue, blood and lymphatic vessels, and nerves; it is more abundant in some vertebrates than in others. Glandular Leydig (interstitial) cells are also present in most, if not all, vertebrates. Thought to be a primary source of androgens, or male hormones, Leydig cells are not always readily distinguishable, and, in some bird species, they may be seen only with the electron microscope. The capillary system of the rat testis, and probably that of many other vertebrates, is such that blood that has bathed the Leydig cells flows to the tubules; it is thus probable that Leydig cell hormones have an immediate effect on the germinal epithelium.

Testes in vertebrates below mammals lie within the body. This is also true of many, sometimes all, members of the mammalian orders Monotremata, Insectivora, Hyracoidea, Edentata, Sirenia, Cetacea, and Proboscidea. Some male mammals—most marsupials, ungulates, carnivores, and primates after infancy—have a special pouch (scrotum) that the testes occupy permanently. A few mammals have a pouch into which the testes descend and from which they can be retracted by muscular action. These include a few rodents such as ground squirrels; most, if not all, bats; and some primitive primates (loris, potto). The scrotum consists of two scrotal sacs, each connected to the abdominal cavity by an inguinal canal lined with the peritoneal membrane. The canals are the path of descent (and retraction) of the testes to the sacs. In descending, the testes carry along a spermatic duct, blood and lymphatic vessels, and a nerve supply wrapped in peritoneum and constituting, collectively, the spermatic cord. Rabbits, most rodents, and some insectivores, which lack scrotal sacs, have instead a wide inguinal canal into which the testes may be drawn and from which they are retracted when in danger of injury. In these mammals, descended testes cause a temporary bulge in the perineal region (i.e., between the anus and the urinogenital opening). In a small number of mammals, the testes permanently occupy the perineal location.

The scrotum is a temperature-regulating device. Warm blood approaching the testis comes close to the vessels carrying cool blood leaving the testis, so that the blood approaching the testis is cooled; the vessels form an intricate vascular network (pampiniform plexus) within the spermatic cord. Failure of both testes to enter the scrotal sacs (cryptorchidism) results in permanent sterility. In cold weather two sets of muscles, the dartos and cremasteric, pull the testes close to the body. The dartos lies between the two scrotal sacs and is attached to the scrotal skin. The cremaster, wrapped around the spermatic cord, is an extension of the abdominal wall musculature. It retracts the testis. Birds, like mammals, are homoiothermic (warm-blooded), and their testes are near air sacs (extensions of incurrent respiratory tubes). Air in the sacs may help regulate the temperature of the testes.

Ducts

The male duct system begins as the rete testis, a network within the testis of thin-walled ductules, or minute ducts, that collects sperm from the seminiferous tubules. The rete is drained by a number of small ducts—usually fewer than ten—called the vasa efferentia, which are modified kidney tubules. In some fishes and amphibians the vasa efferentia connect the testes with the cranial (anterior) end of the kidneys. In anamniotes (e.g., fish and amphibians), therefore, except teleosts, the ducts that drain the kidneys usually drain the testes also. In most amphibians these ducts pass caudad, or posteriorly, to empty independently into the cloaca; in some fishes they pass through a median urinogenital papilla.

Although drainage of the testis and the kidney by the same duct is a basic pattern, there has been a tendency in many vertebrates toward separate spermatic and urinary ducts. This tendency is manifested in one of two ways among anamniotes. In many sharks and in some amphibians (Plethodontidae, Salamandridae, Ambystomatidae), the embryonic kidney duct ultimately drains the testis, and one or more new ducts (ureters) drain the adult kidney. On the other hand, in the primitive fish Polypterus and in most teleosts, the embryonic kidney duct drains the adult kidney, and a new duct arises to drain the testis. Many degrees of separation of the two ducts occur in anamniotes, from the condition of the sturgeon, in which the spermatic duct unites with the urinary duct far toward the head, to the condition in Esox (a pike), in which spermatic and urinary ducts empty independently to the exterior.

In amniotes, the mesonephric kidney is a temporary structure confined to the embryo, but the mesonephric duct persists in the adult male as a sperm duct. A separate ureter drains the adult kidney. The spermatic and urinary ducts empty independently into the cloaca except in mammals above monotremes, in which they are confluent with the urethra. The epididymis of amniotes, a highly tortuous duct draining the vasa efferentia, usually serves as a temporary storage place for sperm; it is small in birds and large in turtles. In mammals, the first part of the epididymis consists of a head, body, and tail that wrap around the testis; it gradually straightens to become the spermatic duct. The epididymis secretes substances that prolong the life of stored sperm and increase their capacity for motility.

In all vertebrates certain regions of the spermatic duct are lined by cilia and a variety of secretory epithelial cells. One end may enlarge to form a sperm reservoir or secrete seminal fluid. In the catfish Trachycorystes mirabilis secretions of the spermatic duct form a gelatinous plug in the female similar to the vaginal plug of mammals. A seminal glomulus in birds functions as a sperm reservoir. In some mammals an enlargement of the spermatic duct called the ampulla contributes to the seminal fluid and stores sperm. Small mucous glands (of Littré) and other glandular structures open into the urethra along its length. Cloacal glands in basking sharks and many salamanders form a jelly that encloses sperm in a spermatophore. Cloacal glands of some lizards produce secretions called pheromones. The siphon sac of elasmobranchs is one of the few accessory sex glands that is a separate organ in animals below mammals. It extends as an elongated pocket into the pelvic fin and secretes a nutritive mucus that enters the female reproductive tract with sperm.