An insight into the skin glands, dermal scales and secretions of the caecilian amphibian Ichthyophis beddomei

The caecilian amphibians are richly endowed with cutaneous glands, which produce secretory materials that facilitate survival in the hostile subterranean environment. Although India has a fairly abundant distribution of caecilians, there are only very few studies on their skin and secretion. In this background, the skin of Ichthyophis beddomei from the Western Ghats of Kerala, India, was subjected to light and electron microscopic analyses. There are two types of dermal glands, mucous and granular. The mucous gland has a lumen, which is packed with a mucous. The mucous-producing cells are located around the lumen. In the granular gland, a lumen is absent; the bloated secretory cells, filling the gland, are densely packed with granules of different sizes which are elegantly revealed in TEM. There is a lining of myo-epithelial cells in the peripheral regions of the glands. Small flat disk-like dermal scales, dense with squamulae, are embedded in pockets in the dermis, distributed among the cutaneous glands. 1–4 scales of various sizes are present in each scale pocket. Scanning electron microscopic observation of the skin surface revealed numerous glandular openings. The skin gland secretions, exuded through the pores, contain fatty acids, alcohols, steroid, hydrocarbons, terpene, aldehyde and a few unknown compounds.