Accessory Ducts

b. Accessory ducts : The accessory ducts include the rete testis, vasa efferentia, epididymis, vas deferens, ejaculatory duct and urethra; all of these except the urethra are present in pairs. At the posterior surface of the testis, all the seminiferous tubules join to form a network of fine tubules called the rete testis. From the rete testis arise 12–20 delicate tubules, the vasa efferentia, which carry the sperm out of the testis and open into the epididymis. The epididymis is a long, highly coiled tube differentiated into an upper caput (head), a middle corpus (body), and a lower cauda (tail) region; sperm undergo further maturation as they pass through the epididymis. Posteriorly, the epididymis continues as the vas deferens, which travels up into the abdominal cavity, loops over the ureter, and eventually joins the duct of the seminal vesicle to form a short ejaculatory duct. The ejaculatory duct passes through the substance of the prostate gland before opening into the urethra. The urethra provides a common passage for both urine an …