EJPAU 2010. Działa-Szczepańczyk E. , Wilczyńska I. MORPHOLOGY AND MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF SELECTED ELEMENTS OF DIGESTIVE TRACT IN GREAT CORMORANT <I>PHALACROCORAX CARBO SINENSIS</I>

Electronic Journal of Polish Agricultural Universities (EJPAU) founded by all Polish Agriculture Universities presents original papers and review articles relevant to all aspects of agricultural sciences. It is target for persons working both in science and industry,regulatory agencies or teaching in agricultural sector. Covered by IFIS Publishing (Food Science and Technology Abstracts), ELSEVIER Science - Food Science and Technology Program, CAS USA (Chemical Abstracts), CABI Publishing UK and ALPSP (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publisher - full membership). Presented in the Master List of Thomson ISI.

2010
Volume 13
Issue 4

Topic:

Biology

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Działa-Szczepańczyk E. , Wilczyńska I. 2010. MORPHOLOGY AND MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF SELECTED ELEMENTS OF DIGESTIVE TRACT IN GREAT CORMORANT PHALACROCORAX CARBO SINENSIS, EJPAU 13(4), #25.
Available Online: http://www.ejpau.media.pl/volume13/issue4/abs-25.html

MORPHOLOGY AND MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF SELECTED ELEMENTS OF DIGESTIVE TRACT IN GREAT CORMORANT PHALACROCORAX CARBO SINENSIS

Ewa Działa-Szczepańczyk, Iwona Wilczyńska
Department of Zoology and Apiculture, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Poland

ABSTRACT

The investigations comprised the digestive tract of 48 specimens of the great cormorant Phalacocroax carbo sinensis – 31 males and 17 females. The analysis featured the entire length of the digestive tract TTL and the length of the following elements of the digestive tract, namely the esophagus EL, the proventriculus and the gizzard GL, the duodenum DL, the jejunum and ileum JIL, the small intestine SIL, the terminal intestine with cloaca TCL, as well as the liver weight LW combined with the sex, the age and the body size characterized by the three parameters, ie. the body weight (BW) and the body length (BL) and the sternum length (SL). The significance of the difference between the sexes within the average values of the parameters were assessed with the t-Student test. The correlation relations between the parameters were analyzed assessing the Pearson linear correlation coefficient – r. The cormorant males, evidently bigger than the females were characterized also by a significantly longer digestive tract, longer small intestine (including its parts, ie. DL, SIL), and a heavier liver. Three parameters of the digestive tract, ie. GL, DL, and TCL, out of all considered, did not indicate a significant relation with either measurements of the avian body. The analysis of the mutual relationships between the parameters of the digestive organs indicated: (1) besides GL and TCL, all the remaining parameters correlated positively with TTL, (2) the TCL measurement correlated significantly with merely one parameter, ie. EL, (3) the GL measurement correlated significantly with two parameters, ie. LW and EL, (4) no significant relationship was observed between EL and DL, SIL, LW.

Key words: Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis, morphometrics, digestive tract.

Ewa Działa-Szczepańczyk
Department of Zoology and Apiculture, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Poland
Doktora Judyma 20, 71-466 Szczecin, Poland
phone: (+48 091)449-67-32
email: Ewa.Dziala-Szczepanczyk@zut.edu.pl

Iwona Wilczyńska
Department of Zoology and Apiculture, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Poland
Doktora Judyma 20, 71-466 Szczecin, Poland

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