Morphological Aspects of the Salivary Glands of Nutria

The salivary glands of nutria, Myocaster coypus, consist of the parotid, submaxillary and sublingual major and minor. The first two are pure serous glands. The sublingual major and minor are mixed, having mucous and serous secretory end pieces or mucous alveoli capped by serous demilunes. All the glands have connective tissue capsules consisting mainly of collagenous fibers with a few elastic fibers. Inward projections of the capsule divide the gland into lobes and lobules and surround individual end pieces. The duct systems of all glands are histologically similar.