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Caudal Courtship Glands in the Cave Salamander, Eurycea lucifuga (Caudata: Plethodontidae)
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Hamlctt, Butch E. Strecker, Andy G. Trauth, Stanley E. |
| Copyright Year | 1998 |
| Abstract | Noble (1929) first reported courtship glands in the tail base of a plethodontid salamander, Eurycea bislineata. To date, these sexually dimorphic caudal glands have been demonstrated histologically only for Desmognathus (Noble, 1931), Eurycea (Noble, 1929; Sever, 1989; Trauth et al., 1993), and Plethodon cinereus (see Houck and Sever, 1994). The term "hedonic gland" was used in previous research (Gadow, 1887; Noble, 1927, 1929, 1931; Rogoff, 1927) to describe a cluster of glands that produced courtship pheromones. Because there was no evidence that the hedonic glands were indeed pleasure giving as the term implied, Arnold (1977) suggested the use of the term "courtship gland." Houck and Sever (1994) adopted the term courtship gland, and we follow their usage when referring tomale sexually dimorphic glands within the skin of the tail base. Caudal courtship glands are located on the dorsal base of the male's tail and hypertrophy during the breeding season; they presumably deliver secretions directly to the female during courtship (Sever, 1989). During the "tailstraddling" walk females place their snouts on the male's rump directly over the caudal glands (Arnold, 1977). Caudal courtship pheromones presumably increase female receptivity, thus making her more likely to become inseminated by that male (Houck and Sever, 1994). Little is known about the reproductive biology of the cave salamander {Eurycea lucifuga) in Arkansas. Trauth et al. (1990) reported that females undergo vitellogenesis from February to August; however, no investigation on the breeding cycle and courtship activity of Eurycea lucifuga in Arkansas animals has, thus far, been published. In the followingpaper, we provide the first histological description of caudal courtship glands of the male cave salamander, Eurycea lucifuga. Our specific objectives were to: 1) document the structure of caudal courtship glands using light microscopy and 2) compare the morphology and secretions of these glands with similar glands previously reported in other Eurycea. Thirty-eight adult male cave salamanders (45-61 mm in snout-vent length [SVL], x = 55.9 mm) were used in this study. The animals were taken from the Arkansas State University Museum ofZoology (ASUMZ) and from the personal collection of S. E. Trauth (SET). Specimens were collected from caves in the following counties of Arkansas: Fulton, Independence, Izard, and Stone. Collection dates were from December 1977 toJuly 1997. The visible glandular hump on the mid-dorsal region of the tail was measured and removed; in addition, an equivalent region of skin was excised from animals that did not possess these protuberances. The tissue samples were prepared for light microscopy using histological techniques outlined by Humason (1979); briefly, these steps were as follows: 1) dehydration in a graded series of ethanol, 2) clearing in xylene, and 3) embedding in paraffin. The tissue samples were oriented in the paraffin so that transverse or frontal sections could be obtained in a complete series. The tissue samples were cut at 8 |im using a rotary microtome. Four staining procedures were used and are as follows: hematoxylin-eosin (HE glandular volumes were derived using the formula for the volume of a cylinder. Caudal courtship glands found inEurycea lucifuga do not show a high degree of morphological variation. The glands tend to be either round or oblong in the pre-secretory stage (Fig. 1A), secretory stage (Fig. 2A,B, and C), and post-secretory stage (Fig 2D). The caudal courtships glands reside deep within the dermis and lie superficial to a layer of adipose tissue. The entire, elevated glandular hump ranged from 5.02 —11.9 mm in length (x= 7.69 mm). The epithelial lining of caudal courtship glands is columnar and variable in thickness (x = 60.2 ±5.2 (im, range, 29.2 99.3, n = 30) inrelation to secretory activity. These glands can be distinguished from other glands (namely,mucous and granular glands) by their size, staining properties, and secretions. Caudal courtship glands are usually greater in width (x = 168.2 urn;range, 46.2 365.7, n= 130) and height (x= 190.1 um; range, 42.0 439.0; n =130) than |
| Starting Page | 124 |
| Ending Page | 128 |
| Page Count | 5 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 52 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://scholarworks.uark.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1791&context=jaas |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
