Perch reproductive system

NOTE:            You are dissecting only one perch; therefore, you will only see one sex during the actual dissection.  You are, however, responsible for knowing the reproductive organs of  both the male and female.  Be sure to prepare your specimen so that it will be clear enough for another student to study.  Also, make certain you examine a specimen of the sex that you did not dissect.

Male

            In the male, the testes are a pair of white elongated bodies lying just below the air bladder to which they are joined by a thin sheet of tissue, the mesentery.  They fuse together toward the posterior end, and the sperm are passed to the outside through the urogenital opening. Examine the male perch and locate the testes.

 

Female

            In the female, the ovary lies between the intestine and the air bladder.  It is an epithelial sac filled with eggs.  The posterior end of the ovary is tapered, and the eggs pass to the outside through the urogenital opening just behind the anus.  The ovaries are paired in early stages, as they are in other vertebrates, but during development, they fuse into a single organ. Examine the female perch and find the ovaries.