Okay, so this is a tutorial on male reproductive anatomy. So I'm going to talk you through some of the main structures relating to the male reproductive system. We're going to begin with the testes, which are the primary sex organs of the males.
So they're akin to the ovaries in the females. The main functions of the testes are to produce sperm and to produce male hormones, so androgens, and the main one being testosterone. So in utero, the testes actually descend from the abdominal cavity via the inguinal canal and they enter into the scrotum.
So what we're going to do now is I'm going to switch over to a diagram of the testes and we'll look at it in section and we'll talk through some of the key structures to know about. So the testes are actually surrounded by a capsule. So this is formed by a layer of peritoneum which is brought down with the testes when it it descends from the abdomen.
But this connection between the abdomen and the testis eventually gets broken and it leaves the testis surrounded by its own separate capsule. So you can see that I've drawn on in green this outer capsule. And this is called the Tunica vaginalis and it has a parietal layer and a visceral layer. And then in blue, you can see that I've drawn on another layer.
So this is the inner sac which encapsulates the testis. And this is called the Tunica albuginea. And as you can see here, the Tunica albuginea actually forms these projections which project into the testis and divide it up into lobules.
So these projections from the Tunica albuginea are known as septa. And the space that you have between each of these septa are called lobules. And then within each of these lobules, you've got this coiled tubular structure.
So you've got the seminiferous tubules. So at the end of these coiled seminiferous tubules, you've actually got a straight tubule coming off. So you can see these straight tubules which I'm highlighting in yellow.
And these straight tubules then all join together to meet this network of tubules which is known as the reti testis. So in Latin, the word reti means net. So you've got this sort of amalgamation of tubules forming this net-like structure. And then next in this series of tubules, coming off the reti testis, you've got the efferent ductules.
And the efferent ductules connect to the epididymis. So posteriorly on the testis, you've got the epididymis. which you can see that I've outlined in purple. So what happens essentially is that you get these sperm cells which are secreted from the lining of the seminiferous tubules and then they travel via this duct system which I've just described to be stored in the epididymis. And it's in this location which they're stored until ejaculation.
So just coming back to the 3D model, you can see the epididymis here sitting on the posterior and superior aspect of the testis. And it's got three parts. It's got the head, it's got the body, and it's got a tail, inferiorly.