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Epidermal sense
organs of the Gekkonid
Tropicolotes tripolitanus
Peters 1880
Hassan El-Sayyad*,
W. F. Mohamed Yonis, F. F. Mohamed Bayomy and Somia Shalaby.
Zoology Department, Faculty of Science,
Mansoura
University and Minufiya University, Egypt.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
elsayyad@mans.edu.eg .
Accepted 20 April, 2009 |
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Seven
Juvenile stages (I,II,III,IV,V,VI and VII) of the
Gekkonid
Tropicolotes tripolitanus,
Peter, (1880)
were
investigated.
Scannin
electron microscopic examination of the dorsal skin of head
and trunk region exhibited the presence of lenticular
epidermal sense organs with characteristic emerging hair let
structures of different forms according to the studied
developmental stages. At SEM, stage I and II exhibited
similar epidermal scale taking triangular structures with
lenticular sensory organ having only 1 or 2 sensory
filaments. At stage III, 2 types of epidermal scales were
detected larger (old) and small (regenerated) with marked
increase of sensory organs especially in trunk region.
During the proceeding stages, the regenerated scales become
more numerous and spread in-between the degenerated old
ones.
Key
words:
Gekkonid, Tropicolotes tripolitanus, Epidermal sense organ |
