Microvascular anatomy of testes in the adult pipid frog, Xenopus laevis Daudin: A scanning electron microscopic study of vascular corrosion casts

Abstract

The three‐dimensional microvascular anatomy of the testes of adult Xenopus laevis was studied by scanning electron microscopy of vascular corrosion casts. Results showed that testicular arteries branch off from urogenital arteries and approach the testes via the mesorchium. At the dorsal surface of testes, arteries course towards the medial and lateral surfaces of the ovoid testes, pierce the tunica albuginea and run in the subalbugineal space and then penetrate the testicular parenchyma. In the parenchyma, they branch in all directions. At sites where larger branches arise, sphincters are present. Intimal cushions are found at the origin of smaller branches. Terminal arterioles capillarize and form a wide‐meshed capillary network around convoluted seminiferous tubules. Inter‐ and peritubular capillaries cannot be differentiated reliably. Arterio‐venous transition distances are short. Arterio‐arterial anastomoses and veno‐venous anastomoses are present. Testicular venules empty into a venous subalbugineal plexus which shows veno‐venous anastomoses of different lengths and calibres. Signs of the ongoing non‐sprouting angiogenesis, particularly intussusceptive branch remodelling, reflect the dynamics of the testicular parenchyma. The present study is the first that demonstrates the testicular microvascular anatomy in an anuran species and shows that X. laevis and men share the intricate convoluted seminiferous tubules with associated vascular patterns as a feature in common.