The Pancreas Morphology of Sunda Porcupine (Hystrix Javanica)

Sunda porcupine (Hystrix javanica) is ones of porcupine species endemic to Indonesia and belongs to Acanthion subgenus of Hystricidae family. There are no available anatomical data related to the pancreas of Sunda porcupine. This study examined the pancreas of Sunda porcupine, macroscopically and microscopically, to clarify their morphological features. Pancreas from four adults Sunda porcupines were observed macroscopically, fixed in Bouins solution, dehydrated in graded series of ethanol, and finally embedded in paraffin wax. The sections were cut at 5 μm in thickness, deparaffinized and stained with haematoxylin-eosin (HE) and examined under a light microscope. The present study revealed that the pancreas of Sunda porcupine (Hystrix javanica) was located in the dorsal parts of stomach, covering the central parts of pylorus to the lesser curvature and nearest duodenal parts, and consists of 4 lobes namely pyloric lobe, lesser curvature lobe, upper duodenal lobe, and lower duodenal lobe. The average size of the pancreas was 8.9 cm in total length, 8.2 cm in width and 9 mm in thickness. The pancreatic duct of Hystrix javanica consist of the major pancreatic ducts which reached duodenum at the position of 3.2 cm from the stomach-duodenum border together with common bile duct and the accessory pancreatic duct which located at the distal part of the major pancreatic duct. In general, histological structure of pancreatic tissues of Sunda porcupine similar to the other mammalian species.Key words: Sunda porcupine, Hystrix javanica, pancreas, morphology