REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM OF THE FEMALE 



59 



through the hilus are to be found the blood and lymph vessels which supply 

 the ovary (fig. 30). 



The ovary of the teleost fish is a specialized, compact type of ovary adapted 

 to the ovulation of many thousands, and in pelagic species, millions of eggs 

 at one time. It has an elongate hilar aspect which permits blood vessels to 

 enter the ovarian tissue along one surface of the ovary, whereas the opposite 

 side is the ovulating area. In many teleosts the ovulating surface possesses 

 a special sinus-like space or lumen (fig. 28) which continues posteriad to 

 join the very short oviduct. At the time of ovulation the eggs are discharged 

 into this space and move caudally as the ovarian tissue contracts. In other 

 teleosts this ovulatory space is not a permanent structure but is formed only 

 at the time of ovulation. In Tilapia macrocephala, for example, the ovulatory 

 lumen is formed on the side of the ovary opposite the area where the blood 

 vessels enter. The formation of this space at the time of ovulation is described 

 by Aronson and Holz-Tucker ('49) as a rupture of the elastic follicles during 

 ovulation whereupon the follicle walls shrink toward the ovarian midline, 



l-r— / — U T E RU 



INFUNDIBULUM 

 FALLOPIAN TUBE 

 OVARY 



RECTUM 



URINARY BLADDER 

 BIG BONE 

 URETHRA 

 VA G I N A 

 CLITORIS 



LABIUM MINUS 



LABIUM MAJUS 



Fig. 29. Diagrammatic representation of a midsagittal section of the reproductive 

 organs of the human female. (Slightly modified from Morris: Human Anatomy, Phila- 

 delphia, Blakiston.) 



