Extra-hepatic arterial branching pattern in the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus)

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a valuable laboratory animal offering various advantageous characteristics, including ease of husbandry and phylogenetic proximity to humans. However, anatomical knowledge of the common marmoset remains inadequate despite its recognized value as a laboratory animal. The livers of primate species have been reported to exhibit species-specific patterns of arterial supply, an understanding of which may be one important prerequisite to perform experiments. However, the arterial branching pattern in common marmosets has yet to be reported in detail. We thus dissected six male and nine female common marmosets to clarify the extra-hepatic arterial branching pattern using the latex injection method. The common marmoset liver received a single to triple arterial supply from the hepatic artery, left gastric artery, caudal phrenic artery, and celiac artery. In two cases, only the hepatic artery provided branches to the liver. The liver received a double arterial supply from the hepatic and caudal phrenic arteries in one case and from the hepatic and left gastric arteries in five cases. A triple arterial supply from the hepatic, left gastric, and celiac arteries was detected in one case, and from the hepatic, left gastric, and caudal phrenic arteries in six cases. The present study revealed characteristic patterns of arterial supply to the liver in the common marmoset, and may provide a prerequisite anatomical background for conducting experiments involving the liver in this species.