Structure of the Adenohypophysis in parturient female and neonate harp seals, Pagophilus groenlandicus.

The pars distalis of parturient harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) is divisible into three distinct zones based on the major cellular components of the different regions. A clear zonation is lacking in neonate seals, the medical "basophilic wedge" and the anterior gonadotrophic were small and difficult to identify. Five cell types were identified based on cytological characteristics: somatotrophs, mammotrophs, thyrotrophs, gonadotrophs and stellate cells; corticotrophs could not be identified, with any certainty, in any of the preparations, nor could the gonadotrophs be classified into LH, FSH, and ICSH cells. The pars intermedia enlarged during the early post-partum period and was large in the parturient females.