Sixty-four ovaries of adult woolly sheep from the Centro de Pesquisa dos Campos Sul Brasileiros - Embrapa, Bagé-RS, Brazil, were analyzed histologically. The presence of the rete ovarii was detected in 55 of the 64 ovaries (85.9%), located in the periovarian tissue, in the hilus and in the medullary or cortical regions. As also observed in other mammals, the rete ovarii of sheep is morphologically divided into three portions: intraovarian rete, connecting rete and extraovarian rete. Continuity between the extraovarian rete and the uterine tube was observed in five ovaries (7.8%), suggesting a tuboretial connection, as reported for cows and does. Pathological examination of the rete showed the formation of cysts surrounding the connecting and/or extraovarian rete in seven cases (10.9%) and one case of hyperplasia of the extraovarian rete (1.6%).
Sheep; ovary; rete ovarii
