The Morphological Characterization of the Blood Cells in the Central Asian Tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii)

In this study morphological characterization of leukocyte and erythrocyte were investigated in central Asian tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii) in Iran. 7 males and 7 females were used in this study. Erythrocyte and leukocyte morphology were described using Wright´s technique. The sizes of erythrocyte and their nuclei were measured using an ocular micrometer under objective lenses (100x). Results of this study were compared with previous work on the other reptile species. Because there were no significant differences between the erythrocyte size of female and male tortoise, the data from the females and males of individual species were pooled. The mean length of mature erythrocytes was 1.98 µm (± 0.16 SD, with a range 1.10 - 2.50 µm).The mean width of mature erythrocytes was 1.10 µm (± 0.14 SD, with a range of 0.80 - 1.90 µm).The mean length of nucleus was 0.71 µm (± 0.09 SD, with a range of 0.50 - 1.00 µm). The mean width of the nucleus was 0.52 µm (± 0.07 SD, with a range of 0.40 - 0.70µm). Five types of leukocytes were found in the tortoise blood namely basophiles, eosinophils, lymphocytes, heterophils and monocytes.