Male Accessory Sex Organs

The accessory ducts and glands of the male are specialisations for the storage of spermatozoa and their conveyance in an adequate vehicle to the exterior at the proper time. These structures in the human male include multiple ductuli efferntes, paired epididymis, vasa deferentia, seminal vesicles, ejaculatory ducts, cowpers’ glands, a prostate gland, the urethra and the copulatory organ, penis. The epididymis is 'an extremely convoluted tubule that measures around 20 feet in length when straightened out. It is a storage place for spermatozoa collected from the testis lumen. Spermatozoa improve the capacity for motility and fertilisation after a period of residence in this organ. Vas deferens begins from the terminal end of the epididymis it receives a duct from the seminal vesicles and then becomes known as ejaculatory duct. It also courses through the prostate gland and enters the urethra.

The vas deferens contains well developed muscle layers and is largely responsible for the movement of sperm along the tract. Sperm storage also occurs at the proximal end of the vas deferens. The spermatozoa m believed to be nonmotile in the storage structures such as epididymis and the proximal portion of the vas deferens, but become motile when mixed with the accessory gland secretions. The seminal fluid emanating from the accessory glands furnishes a vehicle for the conveyance of sperm and perhaps provides an environment in which they can attain their greatest fertilising capacity. All of the accessory sex organs mentioned above depend on androgens for full functional development and are quite inactive until the advent of puberty.