Morphologcal and Ultrastructural Study on the Prostate of a Land Snail Nesiohelix samarangae, a Stylommatophoran Pulmonate

A morphological and ultrastructural study on the prostate of a land snail Nesiohelix samarangae was conducted. The prostate of Nesiohelix samarangae is a tubular gland connected with the large hermaphrodite duct. The lining of the prostate tubules possesses two distinct types of epithelial cells, one secretory and the other non-secretory. The secretory cells contained numerous secretory granules in various sizes and electron density. Most of the secretory granules showed light electron density but some of them showed heavy density. The ciliated cells were non-secreting cells situated only toward the lumen of the tubules and appeared as ordinary epithelial lining cells. The ciliated cells of the epithelium extensively interdigitate with each other and their apical surfaces had numerous cilia and microvilli. The bases of the ciliated cells did not reach the basal region of the secretory cells.