Macroscopic and microscopic morphology of the gonads of Peltophryne empusa (Anura: Bufonidae)

Abstract

The goal of this study is to make a macroscopic and microscopic description of the gonadal morphology of Peltophryne empusa. To do so, six specimens (two males and four females) were collected during the two seasons (dry and wet) of the period 2018-2019 in San Paúl, Artemisa, Cuba. Specimens were anesthetized with a diethyl-ether 99% solution, then, they were sized and measured. After that they were dissected and the entire masculine gonads and part of the feminine ones were taken and fixed in formaldehyde 4% and glutaraldehyde 2.4% solutions to be processed by optical and electronic microscopy respectively. Masculine gonads consisted in two elongated non pigmented and very lobulated testicles and two Bidder’s organs located in cephalic position. Feminine one had no Bidder’s organ. Several cysts with sexual cells in different stages of the spermatogenesis were found in the testicles such as: spermatozoa, spermatids, spermatocytes, Sertoli cells and connective tissue. Bidder’s organ consisted in previtellogenic oocytes, atresic bodies and fat tissue. Spermatozoa were formed by a head, a tail and an undulant membrane. Previtellogenic and vitellogenic oocytes, as well as atresic bodies and germinal bed were found in the ovaries. Oocytes were divided in an animal and a vegetal pole, the nucleus contained nucleoli and lamp brush chromosomes. These characteristics are similar to those of other are also found in other Cuban and foreign anurans. The presence of reproductive characteristics during the dry season in females might have been due to the high precipitations at the beginning of that season.