EPIDERMAL GLANDS IN SQUAMATA - MORPHOLOGY AND HISTOCHEMISTRY OF THE PRE-CLOACAL GLANDS IN AMPHISBAENA-ALBA (AMPHISBAENIA)

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.