The mechanism of the ejection of a frothy fluid from the cloaca in the male turkey

Cloacal morphology of Nothura maculosa (Temminck, 1815), Aves tinamiformes

Cloacae of male Nothura maculosa (spotted tinamous) were dissected and studied with routine histological and histochemical techniques. In the cloaca of this species the following cranio-caudally oriented regions can be recognized: the coprodeum, the urodeum and the proctodeum, separated by the coprourodeal and the uroproctodeal folds respectively. The coprodeum is an abrupt dilatation of the rectum which receives the ureters, contrary to other birds in which they open into the urodeum. The urodeum is the smallest compartment of the cloaca. Its wall presents the paracloacal vascular bodies and the ductus deferens receptacles which open into the ejaculatory fossa through a pair of papillae. The ejaculatory fossa forms the ventral floor of the urodeum and is characterized by the presence of a secretory epithelium and a lamina propria showing rich vascularization. The proctodeum is connected to the exterior through the cloacal opening and ventrally it presents the phallic structures and the proctodeal lamella. Its dorsolateral wall forms the cloacal bursa, its mucosa shows morphological variations depending on the degree of regression. Enclosing the uroproctodeal wall are the cloacal sphincter muscle and the skin.

Effect on turkey spermatozoa of a frothy fluid derived from the cloaca of a male turkey

The influence on turkey spermatozoa of a frothy fluid derived from the cloacal region of a male turkey was investigated. The frothy fluid was collected from the turkey tom during mounting, and semen for the experiment was obtained from the ductus deferens removed after necropsy. Spermatozoa diluted with frothy fluid were examined for motility, viability, and fertilizing capacity and compared with semen diluted with phosphate buffer or undiluted ductal semen. The life-span of spermatozoa suspended in frothy fluid was slightly prolonged during in vitro storage as compared with the undiluted semen or the semen diluted with phosphate buffer; however, a rapid increase of the number of deformed spermatozoa during storage was observed in the semen diluted with frothy fluid. The fertilizing ability of spermatozoa was not influenced by the dilution with frothy fluid when the diluted spermatozoa were inseminated intravaginally immediately after the dilution. On the contrary, when spermatozoa suspended in frothy fluid were preserved at 0 C for 24 h, their fertilizing capacity decreased drastically, probably due to the increased number of abnormal spermatozoa during in vitro preservation.