Mm. Antoniazzi et al., EPIDERMAL GLANDS IN SQUAMATA - MORPHOLOGY AND HISTOCHEMISTRY OF THE PRE-CLOACAL GLANDS IN AMPHISBAENA-ALBA (AMPHISBAENIA), Zoomorphology, 113(3), 1993, pp. 199-203
Pre-cloacal glands occur in some species of amphisbaenians. Although t
hese glands are important in systematics, their biology and chemistry
are little known. The pre-cloacal glands of Amphisbaena alba are of th
e holocrine type. They are made up of a glandular body and a duct. The
glandular body is conical to elongate and is formed of elongate lobul
es separated one from another by collagen septa. Each lobule is compos
ed, at its periphery, of germinative cells, and within of polyhedral s
ecretory cells, of different degrees of differentiation. The germinati
ve cells, set on a basal lamina, are basophilic and their cytoplasm is
fairly electron dense. The polyhedral cells display bulky cytoplasm,
filled with spherical granules, wrapped in membranes and differing in
their electron densities. Towards the lumen of the gland, these granul
es are increasingly eosinophilic and have an affinity for orange G. Th
e secretion is discharged into the duct leading to the pore, which is
situated in the central region of the scale. This secretion shows posi
tive histochemical results for mucopolysaccharides and proteins. The s
imilarity between the epidermal glands of lizards and those of A. alba
raises the suggestion that the glands have equivalent functions, poss
ibly in the course of intra- or interspecific communication.