Morphological study of the pineal gland of Alouatta belzebul

ABSTRACT The pineal is a neuroendocrine gland responsible for the synthesis and release of melatonin. It present in brain vertebrates, but its morphology location vary considerably among species. For species Alouatta belzebul, although some anatomical aspects nervous system have been described, there no information on histological composition this gland. Thus, study aimed to describe morphological, morphometric, belzebul. Seven adult specimens were dissected from which relation surrounding structures was length width measured. Histological slides then prepared stained using hematoxylin-eosin PAS techniques. observed that belzebul located superior cranial cerebellum, colliculi below splenium corpus callosum classified as sub-callosal. had an average 2.6mm 1.14mm. Histologically composed irregular strands pinealocytes gliocytes. showed pigments similar melanin.