The Study of Testis Sac Structure and Its Relation to Body Length, Width and Weight in Hirudo orientalis, Using Morphometrical and Histological Methods

The aim of this project is finding a relationship between body characters of Hirudo orientalis with testis sac and spermatic follicles structure in order to find a relationship between these characters and sexual maturity، regarding farming goals. 30 individuals of H. orientalis were collected From 3 ponds located in Gonbad-é-Kavous city in May، July and November. Body length، width and weight، Testis sac diameter، testis sac diameter to body diameter ratio and spermatic follicle numbers obtained for each sample. For understanding starvation effect on testis sac، 20 individuals of collected leeches were starved for 120 days. Data were analyzed using ANOVA test and SPSS 16 software. Body length، width and weight، testis sac diameter، testis sac diameter to body diameter ratio and spermatic follicle numbers showed significantly reduction in May comparing with July and November (P<0. 05). Mature spermatic follicles were observed in samples with more than 3 gr weight، >10. 3 cm length and >0. 79 cm diameter in July and November. All of studied characters were reduced with the exception of body length and testis sac diameter to body diameter ratio in starved samples (P<0. 05). This study showed that testis sac structure and spermatic follicle numbers can directly related to body weight and diameter in H. orientalis but not to body length.