A Macroscopic and Microscopic Study of Liver in Female Iraqi Green Freshwater Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Linnaeus,1758 during the Active Period

Abstract

The study aims to provide anatomical and histological information about the liver in female Iraqi green freshwater turtles. Ten female green freshwater turtles (Chelonia mydas) were collected from Shatt Al-Hilla and used in this study. They were anesthetized by chloroform in closed chambers. The anatomical information was recorded and the histological sections of the liver were stained by using hematoxylin and Eosin stains. The result showed that the liver of a female green freshwater turtle (Chelonia mydas) is a large elongated organ. The mean weight of turtles is 735±0.04 gm, and the mean weight of the liver is 28±0.02 gm. The ratio between the weight of the liver to the weight of the body was 3.809 %. The liver of (Chelonia mydas) is formed from three lobes right, left and middle (central) lobes. The right lobe is the large one with an average weight of 13 ±0.022 gm.  It looks like a square and has two surfaces ventral and dorsal (visceral) surface. The left lobe is smaller than the right with an average weight of 9±0.05gm, and its shape is rectangular. The middle lobe is rounded and small. Its mean weight is 7±0.01gm. Histologically, the liver is covered by mesothelium under its connective tissue layer as a hepatic capsule which divided the liver into lobules in the shape of hexagons with portal spaces, from the central to the walls of the hepatocyte.