Description of a Proctodeal Gland of Three South American Liolaemus Lizards (Iguania: Liolaemidae)
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See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/266375202 Description of a proctodeal gland of three South American Liolaemus lizards (Iguania: Liolaemidae) ARTICLE in SALAMANDRA · JANUARY 2014 Impact Factor: 1.23 DOWNLOADS VIEWS 47 30 3 AUTHORS, INCLUDING: Soledad Valdecantos Virginia Martínez National University of Salta National University of Salta 10 PUBLICATIONS 21 CITATIONS 9 PUBLICATIONS 3 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Available from: Antonieta Labra Retrieved on: 02 July 2015 SALAMANDRA 51(1) xx–xx 30 April 2014 CorrespondenceISSN 0036–3375 Correspondence Description of a proctodeal gland present in three South American Liolaemus lizards (Iguania: Liolaemidae) Soledad Valdecantos1, Virginia Martínez1 & Antonieta Labra2,3 1) IBIGEO – Instituto de Biología y Geología del NOA, Universidad Nacional de Salta, CONICET, Avenida Bolivia 5150, 4400, Salta, Argentina 2) Programa de Fisiología y Biofísica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 70005, Correo 7, Santiago, Chile 3) University of Oslo, Department of Biosciences, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, P.O. Box 1066 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway Corresponding author: Soledad Valdecantos, e-mail: [email protected] Manuscript received: 27 November 2013 Accepted: 15 April 2014 by Philipp Wagner Vertebrates, with the exception of placental mammals conspecific recognition Labra( 2008), and faeces are one and teleosteos, possess a cavity, the cloaca, internally di- source of scents for both sexes (Labra et al. 2002, Valde- vided into the urodaeum, coprodaeum, and proctodaeum, cantos et al. in prep.). Presently, there have only been de- where the urogenital and digestive tracts lead (Gadow scriptions of cloacal glands in females; crypt glands in the 1887). Thus, the cloaca is involved in defecation, elimina- proctodaeum region of Liolaemus albiceps Lobo & Lau- tion of nitrogenous debris, copulation, sperm transporta- rent, 1995, and urodaeum glands in Liolaemus quilmes tion, and the passing of eggs or birth of offspring Ga ( dow Etheridge, 1993 (Sanchez-Martínez et al. 2007). These 1887, Skadhauge 1974, Minnich 1982, Uribe et al. 1998, glands may be associated with egg production, which does Kardong 2007, Sánchez-Martínez et al. 2007). In squa- not exclude the possibility that their secretions could be in- mates, additional functions have been suggested for the volved chemical communication, too. However, there have cloaca, such as conservation of water (Bentley 1976), pre- been no studies on the male cloaca, ignoring the possibility cipitation of uric acid (Minnich 1972, 1982), and scent pro- that they might also possess glands that can be involved in duction that allows identifying species or provide informa- chemical communication. tion about the sex and reproductive condition of the emit- Here we investigate the general characteristic of the ter of such scent (Trauth et al. 1987, Uribe et al. 1998). ventral portion of the proctodeal region in individuals of Regarding the morphology of the cloaca, different authors both sexes of Liolaemus irregularis Laurent, 1986, L. poe have reported and described glands in different cloacal re- cilochromus Laurent, 1986 and L. neuquensis Müller & gions of both sexes in all major groups of squamates (Dis- Hellmich, 1939, in order to search for glands that may selhorst 1904, Gabe & Saint Girons 1965, Burkolder & contribute scents to faeces. Tanner 1974, Trauth et al. 1987, Cooper &Trauth 1992, We processed well-preserved individuals from the her- Sánchez-Martínez et al. 2007). These glands may have petological collection of the Museo de Ciencias Naturales various functions, but considering that in different lizard of Universidad Nacional de Salta (Argentina), collected in species, faeces are a source of pheromones (Bull et al. summer seasons, which had been fixed in 10% buffered 1999a, 1999b, Labra et al. 2002, Moreira et al. 2008, Fen- formalin solution and preserved in 70% ethanol. ner & Bull, 2011), their secretions and excretions might We cut the ventral cloacal border from 31 L. irregu also be involved in chemical communication. So far, how- laris (♂: 7 juveniles, 8 adults; ♀: 9 juveniles, 7 adults), ever, descriptions of glands in the urodeal and proctodeal 22 L. poecilochromus (♂: 5 juveniles, 8 adults; ♀: 2 juve- regions that would be directly involved in scent production niles, 7 adults), and two L. neuquensis adults (1♂, 1♀). Tis- are limited to some scincid, cordylid, and scelo porid liz- sues were dehydrated in graded series of ethanol solution, ards (Trauth et al. 1987, Cooper & Trauth 1992). cleared in xylene and embedded in paraffin. Serial sec- Liolaemus Wiegmann, 1834 (Liolaemidae) lizards use tions (5–7 µm) were obtained with a rotary microtome and chemical information, among others, to assess self and stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE). Based on previous © 2014 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde e.V. (DGHT), Mannheim, Germany All articles available online at http://www.salamandra-journal.com 1 Correspondence studies on sexual maturity of these species (Valdecantos cytoplasms have no secretory granules, and the ducts are & Lobo 2007), we regarded as juveniles those individuals empty (Fig. 2C). with snout–vent lengths ranging from 32.8 to 48.6 mm, All adults of L. irregularis had proctodeal glands in while adults of L. irregularis were from 70.4 to 99.1 mm, S1, while only half of the adults of L. poecilochromus had and those of L. poecilochromus were from 62.1 to 75.0 mm. glands in S1, and the other half had them in S2. Three out of No age classes were studied in L. neuquensis, and the adult seven juveniles of L. irregularis and one out of five juveniles male measured 60.4 mm, while the adult female measured of L. poecilochromus had glands in S2 and all others in S3. 59.3 mm. The only male of L. neuquensis had the gland in S2. Subsequent descriptions of the glands and histological The secretion accumulated in the glandular lumen descriptions are based on the three best central mid-sagit- proved PAS positive, indicating the presence of mucosub- tal planes of the best-sectioned gland from each specimen. stances. The intracytoplasmic granules and secretions were Descriptions follow the nomenclature used by Geneser positive to Bromophenol-blue, indicating the presence of (2002) and Gartner & Hiatt (1994). protein (Fig. 2A). The Alcyan-blue pH 2.5 was negative for To identify neutral and acidic mucosubstances, paraffin glandular structures, indicating that the mucosubstances sections were treated with the periodic acid Schiff’s rea- were neutral. The staining shows intracytoplasmic gran- gent (PAS), hematoxylin (H), and Alcian-blue (AB) pH 2.5 ules in the pyramidal cells and the secretions of the ducts. (Martoja & Martoja-Pierson 1970). We also used Males, juveniles and adults, of the three Liolaemus Bromophenol-blue to identify proteins. We did not search species possess a proctodeal gland, which previously re- for lipids, because they are soluble in the alcohol that was mained unreported in this genus. Different glands have used to preserve the lizards. Slides were inspected under been described from the proctodeal region of both sexes a microscope (Olympus BX40; Tokyo, Japan) and photo- of different lizard species (Gabe & Saint-Girons 1965, graphed with a digital camera (Olympus DP25). Burkolder & Tanner 1974, Trauth et al. 1987, Cooper In the three Liolaemus species, an integument with epi- &Trauth 1992, Sánchez-Martínez et al. 2007). From dermal scales externally coats the borders of the cloaca, these, the gland found in Liolaemus has a morphology and which internally is continuous with the mucosa of the position similar to the one described in males of Sceloporus cloaca. Between the integument and the mucosa, there graciosus Baird & Girard, 1852, whose secretion was pro- is a striated muscle. The epidermis is a keratinised strati- posed to serve as a lubricant for the hemipenis during fied epithelium that forms the integument with epider- copulation (Burkholder &Tanner 1974). It is unknown mic scales (Figs 1A, B, C), and the dermis is composed of a whether the gland in Liolaemus has the same function as in dense, modelling connective tissue. S. graciosus, but the fact that only adults of Liolaemus males Males, both adult and juvenile, of all three species have a have glands with secretions suggests that it may have the gland immersed between the cloacal mucosa and the mus- same function as has been proposed for Sceloporus. culature, and since it opens directly to the proctodaeum, The position of the Liolaemus proctodeal gland, how- we named it proctodeal gland (Figs 1A, B). It is located an- ever, is also similar to the ventral portion of the glandu- terior to the precloacal glands in species that have these lar complex described for Plestiodon (Duméril & Bibron, glands, i.e., L. irregularis (Fig. 1B) and L. poecilochromus. 1839) and Gerrhosaurus Wiegmann, 1828 (Trauth et al. We did not find any trace of proctodeal glands in females 1987, Cooper & Trauth 1992). We did not extract the of the three species of Liolaemus examined (Fig. 1C). whole cloaca, thus we cannot rule out the possibility that The proctodeal gland is a compound, tubuloacinar the proctodeal gland of these Liolaemus males is part of a gland with an apocrine secretion. It is divided into lobes glandular complex such as the one described for Plestiodon that are organized in lobules, and each lobule has several laticeps (Schneider, 1801) (Scincidae) and Gerrhosaurus acini (Figs 1D, E, F), the basic functional unit of the gland. nigrolineatus Hallowell, 1857 (Gerrhosauridae) (Trauth Cell secretion is delivered into secondary ducts, which end et al. 1987, Cooper & Trauth 1992), specifically the por- in a main duct that opens into the cloaca (Figs 1D, E, F). tion closest to the cloacal opening. On the other hand, the The acini cells have large and round nuclei (Fig. 1D) with glandular complex was much less active and developed conspicuous nucleoli and loose chromatin that are typical in females of G.