Seasonal changes in the pituitary gland of the feral hawaiian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus)

✍ Scribed by Marita L. Nelson; Jan Inao

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1982
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 941 KB
• Volume: 174
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0362-2525
• DOI: 10.1002/jmor.1051740202

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The Hawaiian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) is a seasonally breeding mammal whose pituitary gland resembles that of other Viverridae. Certain features, such as a prominent pars tuberalis interna and a double‐layered pars intermedia forming a cup for the neurohypophysis, are unique.

With the light microscope, five different cell types can be recognized in the pars distalis after staining with periodic acid‐Schiff (PAS)‐orange G. Two types of acidophils are seen, a small yellow‐staining cell and a large angular orange cell. Two basophilic cells are also seen, one with fine PAS‐positive cytoplasmic granules and the other with coarse PAS‐positive granules in the cytoplasm. The last cell type seen is the chromophobe. Differential cell counts indicated an altered distribution of chromophils in the ventral pars distalis of the female mongoose with changing season and reproductive status, but the most striking change was a decreased percentage of basophils in the pars distalis during the nonbreeding season.