MORPHOLOGICAL, HISTOLOGICAL, AND HISTOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF STOMACH, PROVENTRICULUS, AND GIZZARD IN SLENDER-BILLED GULL CHROICOCEPHALUS GENEI (BRÈME, 1839) (AVES, CHARADRIIFORMES, LARIDAE)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26842/binhm.7.2025.18.3.0507Keywords:
Chroicocephalus genei, Histochemical, Histological, Morphological, Stomach.Abstract
The current study aimed to identify the morphological, histological, and histochemical
composition of the proventriculus and the gizzard of the slender-billed gull Chroicocephalus
genei (Breme, 1839) (Aves, Charadriiformes, Laridae) using a light microscope.
Morphological analysis revealed that the stomach of the bird is divided into proventriculus
and gizzard. The proventriculus is situated to the left of the body's midline and is completely
encompassed by the liver's left lobe, and appears pear-shaped or elongated oval and has
smooth walls. The gizzard has a pear-shaped muscular organ and is located to the left of the
midline in the lower quarter of the abdominal cavity. The results of histological examination
show that there are four major layers that make up the proventriculus and gizzard walls
consist of: mucosa, submucosa, muscularis, and serosa, as well as the presence of the koilin
layer covering the tunica mucosa of the gizzard. The lining epithelium of the wall of the
proventriculus is covered with simple columnar epithelial tissue, but the lamina properia has
simple tubular glands and is made mostly of loose connective tissue, and the submucosa is
composed of loose connective tissue and deep gastric glands. The muscularis which consist of
three layers of smooth muscle fiberes, while loose connective tissue makes up the tunica
serosa. In the gizzard, the lining epithelium is lined by simple columnar epithelium; the
lamina properia consists of simple tubular glands. The gizzard's submucosa is lined with
dense connective tissue, the muscularis is made up of smooth muscle fiberes, and the tunica
serosa is coated with loose connective tissue. According to the histochemical analysis, the
proventriculus and gizzard contain a significant amount of mucopolysaccharides which
exhibited a positive reaction to Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) stains.
