Folia Morphol. Vol. 77, No. 1, pp. 36–43 DOI: 10.5603/FM.a2017.0056 O R I G I N A L A R T I C L E Copyright © 2018 Via Medica ISSN 0015–5659 www.fm.viamedica.pl The gross anatomy of the male reproductive system of the European hedgehog (Erinaceus Europaeus) G. Akbari, M. Babaei, D. Kianifard, D. Mohebi Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran [Received: 1 March 2017; Accepted: 30 May 2017] Hedgehogs are small spiny-coated insectivores. Due to their low body weight, calm character, and easy maintenance, they are kept as pets. It is therefore worthwhile to care about hedgehogs’ health problems and to provide pet owners with in- formation about their reproduction. Moreover, it is necessary to be familiar with their anatomy so as to satisfy the need to improve nutrition and medical care, even surgery. This study was carried out on five adult male European hedgehogs euthanased in a chloroform chamber. The European hedgehog’s oval testes are invisible in inguinal region because they have no true scrotal sac. The testes are located in the craniocaudal direction with dorsolateral epididymal attachments. The vesicular glands, the European hedgehog’s largest accessory sex glands, are lobulated structures containing dorsomedial and ventrolateral parts on each side. The prostate is an oval gland with right and left lobes. The paired bulbourethral glands are laid on the ischiocavernosus muscle. Histologically the vesicular, prostate gland ducts and ductus deferens as well as urethra separately were discharged in a diverticlum at the level of the pelvic urethra end. A sigmoid flexure exists in the proximal part of shaft body of the penis. There are two retractor penile muscles. In dorsal end of the penile glans, there is a small urethral process with two nail- -like, needle-shaped structures. They are on both sides of the urethral process. Furthermore, there are two intromittent sacs (Sacculus urethralis) in the ventral part of the end of the penis. (Folia Morphol 2018; 77, 1: 36–43) Key words: European hedgehog, male, penis, urethra, accessory sex glands INTRODUCTION been given to the study of reproductive organs be- In male mammals, the standard reproductive sys- cause, it is important to produce basic information on tem consists of the testes and relevant epididymis, anatomy and histology of male reproductive system accessory sex gland complex, ductus deferens, ure- since it has considerable significance in breeding, in thra, and penis. The accessory sex gland complex com- order to make a pathological diagnosis and provide prises the vesicular gland, ampullary gland, prostate clinical treatment of diseases [6, 8, 17, 18, 22]. Several gland, bulbourethral glands, and coagulating glands. studies have been performed on the structure and Nonetheless, not every mammalian order has all of function of reproductive organs in lots of species. the glands [17]. Scrupulous attention has always However, little attention has been given to European Address for correspondence: Dr. G. Akbari, Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran, tel: +98 (041) 36378743, fax: +98 (041) 36378743, e-mail: [email protected] 36 G. Akbari et al., Reproductive system of male hedgehog hedgehogs [16]. Undoubtedly, they are indispensable For histological study all of the slides were stained to wildlife conservation. with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E), and examined in Hedgehogs are spiny-coated insectivores. They the light microscope. are small and nocturnal creatures. Owing to their low body weight, calm character, and ease of main- RESULTS tenance, hedgehogs could entertain exotic-pet hob- The oval testes of the European hedgehog are byists. Therefore, it is necessary to be familiar with intra-abdominal, as there are no true scrotal sacs, but hedgehogs’ health problems and moreover provide the protrusions of scrotal pouches were in contact pet owners with information about reproduction with the abdominal muscles in the pubic region. The among hedgehogs. longitudinal axis of the testes was horizontal and the Naturally, they are found in the British Isles across epididymal border was dorsal, while the free border Europe and in Asia and Africa. The subfamily Erinaceinae was ventral. Testes are pinkish brown (Figs. 1, 2). The comprises three genera and several species. Nonethe- average length, diameter, and weight of the testes less, hedgehogs which could be regarded as popular were 1.72 ± 0.04 cm, 1.11 ± 0.03 cm, and 1.25 ± pets are of two varieties, namely the African hedgehog ± 0.05 g, respectively. The mean testicular weight (Atelerix albiventris) and the larger European hedgehog (g ± SEM) was 0.17 ± 0.002% as a percentage of (Erinaceus europaeus). The European hedgehog is the body weight. Histologically, the testes were covered only species of hedgehogs that are naturally found in with a strong stroma called tunica albuginea. The England. Hedgehogs have legal protection in both Eu- testes normally formed germinal epithelium, which ropean countries and the United States of America [24]. had all cellular stages of the spermatogenesis. This study aims to describe the morphology and The epididymis was an elongated and convoluted topography of the male reproductive system of the tube strongly attached to the testis dorsolaterally. European hedgehog The epididymal components, namely head, body and tail, were easily identifiable (Figs. 1, 2). The average MATERIALS AND METHODS length (cm ± SEM) of the epididymis was 21.97 ± Five mature male European hedgehogs (weight: ± 0.46 cm. Histologically, the epididymis was lined 753.4 ± 33.11 g) were used for the present study. by pseudostratified columnar epithelium. The duc- They were collected from the suburbs of Tabriz, East tus deferens arose from the terminal part of the tail Azerbaijan, Iran, in the spring, the beginning of the of the epididymis. They were pink tubes with thick European hedgehogs reproductive activity season. walls, and entered the urethra. The average length Their diet consisted of insects and water, which was and diameter of the ducts were 3.35 ± 0.13 cm and given ad libitum. All animal procedures employed in 0.14 ± 0.01 cm, respectively. There was no enlarge- this study were approved according to the standards ment in distal part of ductus deferens at the level of of the University of Tabriz on Human Care and Use of the urinary bladder neck and it was dorsally entered Laboratory Animals by the Research Ethics Committee to the dorsal wall of the intrapelvic urethra (Fig. 1). of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in The accessory glands of the male hedgehog Iran (adopted on April 17, 2006), based on the Hel- were separately laid closed to the intrapelvic urethra sinki Protocol (Helsinki, Finland 1975). Each animal (Figs. 1, 2). The seminal vesicles were located on was weighed live, and then sacrificed by an overdose the dorsal surface of the urinary bladder and ductus of chloroform in a tightly closed container. deferens. They extended close to the spleen in the ab- dominal cavity (Fig. 2). This gland included a dorsome- Dissection dial part and a ventrolateral part but the dorsomedial Each animal was opened up, and the reproduc- part was smaller than the ventrolateral part. Each of tive organs were viewed and photographed, in situ. these glands was attached to the pelvic urethra by Images of the excised genital organs were taken with means of a long duct (Figs. 1, 3A). The ventral duct a digital camera and therefore the length, width, cir- was larger than the dorsal one. The average length cumference, and weight of the genital organs were and diameter of the dorsal duct were 2.21 ± 0.27 cm recorded using a ruler, thread, and weighing scale and 0.45 ± 0.12 cm, respectively. Furthermore, the (Shimadzu AW320, Germany). Tissue samples were average length and diameter of the ventral duct were taken from various parts of the reproductive system. 2.51 ± 0.42 cm and 0.54 ± 0.17 cm, respectively. 37 Folia Morphol., 2018, Vol. 77, No. 1 Figure 1. Dorsal view of the reproductive system of a male European hedgehog: A photograph (A) and schematic representation (B); Pr — prepuce; Pe — penis; A — Anus; R — rectum; Bd — bulbourethral duct; Bg — bulbourethral gland; Im — ischiocavernosus muscle; T — testis; Dd — duc- tus deferens; Cap-ep — caput epididymidis; Cau-ep — cauda epididymidis; Ce — corpus epididymidis; Sp — scrotal pouch; P — prostate gland; CP — cranial part of the right prostate gland; CaP — caudal part of the right prostate gland; dmv — dorsomedial lobe of the vesicular gland; vlv — ventrolateral lobe of the vesicular gland; Vd — vesicular duct; Ud — urethral diverticulum; Pu — pelvic urethra. The vesicular glands of the European hedgehog were lobulated structures. Moreover, this gland in- cluded dorsomedial leaf-form and ventrolateral sock- form glands (Fig. 1). The average length of dorso- medial and ventrolateral vesicular gland was 4.55 ± ± 0.31 cm and 5.16 ± 0.25 cm, respectively and the average widths of the middle part of the dorsomedial and ventrolateral vesicular glands were 1.41 ± 0.16 cm and 1.72 ± 0.11 cm, respectively. The average diameters of the middle part of the dorsomedial and ventrolateral vesicular glands were 1.27 ± 0.03 cm and 1.42 ± 0.06 cm, respectively. The mean weight of the dorsomedial and ventrolateral vesicular glands were 3.93 ± 0.04 g and 4.33 ± 0.06 g, respectively. The vesicle glands are the largest accessory sex glands in the European hedgehog. They have a pale yellow- ish-cream colour (Figs. 1, 2). The prostate gland was a yellow gland with two lobes, one either side (Figs. 1, 2). The right lobe of Figure 2. Ventral view of the reproductive system of a male European hedgehog.