Pl. V · Stratifex cubicus — stratified cuboidal

The plate

The specimen, drawn

Pl. V

Habitat & range

Where it lives

Body map

Where this tissue is found.

Range

• Ducts of sweat glands
• Larger ducts of salivary and mammary glands
• Parts of the male urethraThe tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body.

Collection record

• Add your slide numbers here.

Niche

What it does for a living

A tougher pipe. Two layers where one would not survive the flow, but without the bulk of stratified squamous. It is plumbing, reinforced.

field collected specimen

How to know it on sight

• Exactly two layers of cube-shaped cellsThe basic structural and functional units of life.. Not three.
• Found as the wall of a duct, so usually met in cross-section.
• A double ring round a lumenThe inside space of a hollow organ or structure..

Specimen 1

parotid gland, stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)

Specimen 2

parotid gland, stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)

Specimen 3

parotid gland, stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)

People keep calling her by the wrong name

Look-alikes

Three plates. Read the line underneath each one before you decide.

Simple cuboidal

Tell them apart by counting layers. One versus two is the whole question.

Stratified columnar

Tell them apart by the top row — tall, not square.

Transitional

Tell them apart by the address. Ducts, not bladderA muscular organ that stores urine before excretion..

Examine it yourself

The virtual slide

Zoom in until you can see the surface of the cells, then find the basement membrane underneath.

Virtual slide courtesy of Histology Guide.

Field notes

Why this animal

Pistol shrimp live in strict pairs, one burrow between them. Always two, never three.