Testis

Inactive testis of a pigeon (HE): rete testis and epididymis

The rete testis forms a network of thin-walled channels, lined by a simple cuboidal to squamous epithelium. The rete testis is not embedded in testicular tissue but lies outside the tunica albuginea.

In the epididymis, the rete channels drain successively into the ductuli efferentes (undulating ciliated columnar epithelium) and ductuli conjugentes (ciliated pseudostratified epithelium) before they enter the strongly convoluted ductus epidydimidis (ciliated pseudostratified epithelium).