Estudo morfológico da pele e glândulas cutâneas de Elachistocleis cesarii (Amphibia, Anura, Microhylidae)

Abstract

One of the main characteristics of the skin of all amphibians is the presence of venomous and mucous glands in the dermis. However, some groups have specialized glands for certain functions, such as the sexually dimorphic glands, identified as related to intraspecific chemical communication during reproduction. Anurans of the family Microhylidae are generally fossorial, with an ovoid body and very short arms, which makes it difficult to perform a nuptial embrace or amplexus. In some species of this group, specialized glands known as adhesive glands have been described in the ventral skin of males, whose function is the male's fixation over the female's back at the moment of the amplexus. The skin morphology of the microhylid Elachistocleis cesarii had never been studied before, and therefore the presence of adhesive glands was unknown. Thus, the present study aimed to study the general skin morphology and description of the cutaneous glands through histological methods. We aimed at the investigation of the presence of adhesive glands in males, identification of their distribution on the ventral skin, and their comparison with those of other species already described, such as the North American species Gastrophryne carolinensi and the Brazilian species Dermatonotus muelleri. Histological and histochemical data revealed similarities of the glands among these species, both from the morphological point of view and in relation to their distribution on the body the data also showed that there are particularities present only in E. cesarii, thus contributing to the knowledge of its natural history. In future stages, more in-depth morphological studies will be carried out using electron microscopy, as well as the analysis of the secretion of this species, in order to verify the presence of compounds that may be related to their adhesion properties.