No abstract

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the surface tubercles of a specialized mechanoreceptor found within the head of Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri indicates that the tubercle consists of a craterlike structure with a peg emerging from its center. After removal of the outer keratinized layers of the epidermis, the SEM discloses a replicate tubercle on the underlying alpha keratin layer. Over 6000 tubercles were found within a single snake. The mechanoreceptors were more densely concentrated on anterior scales, and their number appears to be species specific so that they are more concentrated in snakes with smaller heads than in those with larger ones.

The lacunar cell layer in rat snake epidermis contains many characteristic intracellular vacuoles. The lipid nature of these large round vacuoles was demonstrated by histochemical and ultrastructural investigations. Rhomboid-shaped clefts, similar to cholesterol ester clefts, were observed in proximity to the vacuoles.