Syahfitri Anita, Takato Inoue, Aya Inoue, Koshiro Eto, Amir Hamidy, Naoki Mori, Akira Mori
{"title":"Morphology and Chemical Composition of the Nuchal Glands of Indonesian Snakes With a Description of a Novel Type of Glands","authors":"Syahfitri Anita, Takato Inoue, Aya Inoue, Koshiro Eto, Amir Hamidy, Naoki Mori, Akira Mori","doi":"10.1002/jmor.70071","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Several species of natricine snakes sequester bufadienolides from toads, store them in their nuchal glands, and reutilize them for their defense. This study aimed to examine the presence and morphological features of nuchal glands of natricine snakes distributed in Indonesia, containing several lineages of this group. When the presence of the glands was confirmed, the gland fluids were analyzed to identify their chemical components. Secretions from the parotoid glands of several species of toads in Indonesia were also analyzed. Morphological examination of the glands was conducted by observing the presence or absence of structures and recording the spatial pattern of the glands. The glandular fluids of three snake species and four toad species were extracted and analyzed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Nuchal glands or organs similar to the glands were found on the head or neck region of preserved or freshly dead specimens of <i>Rhabdophis subminiatus</i>, <i>R. flaviceps</i>, <i>R. rhodomelas,</i> and <i>Rhabdophis</i> spp. of Sulawesi, although such a gland was not found in the other genera of natricine snakes. These <i>Rhabdophis</i> species have different spatial patterns of glands, and particularly <i>Rhabdophis</i> spp. of Sulawesi showed an unusual novel gland form in the temporal and occipital regions of the head, possibly comparable to the nuchal glands. Bufadienolides of the bufogenin and bufotoxin types were identified from all toad gland fluids. In contrast, the glandular fluids of snakes, <i>R. subminiatus</i>, <i>R. flaviceps</i>, and <i>Rhabdophis</i> spp. of Sulawesi store only bufogenin-type bufadienolides. Bufadienolide profiles of snakes and toads indicate that the toxin composition is highly diverse among species. The results suggest that snakes would be able to chemically convert dietary bufadienolides from toads and reutilize some bufadienolides readily. This study demonstrated that the form and location of “nuchal glands” in a snake's body are more diverse than previously recognized.</p>","PeriodicalId":16528,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Morphology","volume":"286 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jmor.70071","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Morphology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jmor.70071","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ANATOMY & MORPHOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Several species of natricine snakes sequester bufadienolides from toads, store them in their nuchal glands, and reutilize them for their defense. This study aimed to examine the presence and morphological features of nuchal glands of natricine snakes distributed in Indonesia, containing several lineages of this group. When the presence of the glands was confirmed, the gland fluids were analyzed to identify their chemical components. Secretions from the parotoid glands of several species of toads in Indonesia were also analyzed. Morphological examination of the glands was conducted by observing the presence or absence of structures and recording the spatial pattern of the glands. The glandular fluids of three snake species and four toad species were extracted and analyzed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Nuchal glands or organs similar to the glands were found on the head or neck region of preserved or freshly dead specimens of Rhabdophis subminiatus, R. flaviceps, R. rhodomelas, and Rhabdophis spp. of Sulawesi, although such a gland was not found in the other genera of natricine snakes. These Rhabdophis species have different spatial patterns of glands, and particularly Rhabdophis spp. of Sulawesi showed an unusual novel gland form in the temporal and occipital regions of the head, possibly comparable to the nuchal glands. Bufadienolides of the bufogenin and bufotoxin types were identified from all toad gland fluids. In contrast, the glandular fluids of snakes, R. subminiatus, R. flaviceps, and Rhabdophis spp. of Sulawesi store only bufogenin-type bufadienolides. Bufadienolide profiles of snakes and toads indicate that the toxin composition is highly diverse among species. The results suggest that snakes would be able to chemically convert dietary bufadienolides from toads and reutilize some bufadienolides readily. This study demonstrated that the form and location of “nuchal glands” in a snake's body are more diverse than previously recognized.
期刊介绍：
The Journal of Morphology welcomes articles of original research in cytology, protozoology, embryology, and general morphology. Articles generally should not exceed 35 printed pages. Preliminary notices or articles of a purely descriptive morphological or taxonomic nature are not included. No paper which has already been published will be accepted, nor will simultaneous publications elsewhere be allowed.
The Journal of Morphology publishes research in functional, comparative, evolutionary and developmental morphology from vertebrates and invertebrates. Human and veterinary anatomy or paleontology are considered when an explicit connection to neontological animal morphology is presented, and the paper contains relevant information for the community of animal morphologists. Based on our long tradition, we continue to seek publishing the best papers in animal morphology.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
