Association of Leeches with the Endangered Houston Toad

Bassett, Lawrence G.; Zughaiyir, Ferris E.; Richardson, Dennis J.; Hammond, Charlotte I.; McAllister, Chris T.; Forstner, Michael R. J.

doi:10.1656/058.021.0109

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Prior to this report, the only reported ectosymbiont of B. houstonensis was the glossiphoniid leech, Helobdella austinensis (Bassett et al 2022). Similar to the association between H. austinensis and B. houstonensis, the association between Physa sp.…”

mentioning

confidence: 71%

Acute Bladder Snails, Physa acuta Draparnaud 1805, as ectosymbionts of the endangered Houston Toad, Bufo (Anaxyrus) houstonensis Sanders 1953

Bassett

Forstner

2022

RandA

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mentioning

confidence: 71%

Acute Bladder Snails, Physa acuta Draparnaud 1805, as ectosymbionts of the endangered Houston Toad, Bufo (Anaxyrus) houstonensis Sanders 1953

Bassett

Forstner

2022

RandA

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“…The samples lack possibly protective integumentary skeletons [40,52], and they do not have particularly thick epidermis or stratum compactum (largely 20-40 and 40-70 μm, respectively) when compared to those of other frogs of similar or smaller body sizes [8,28,[53][54][55]. Stabbing can cause open wounds that chemically attract leeches [19,29], which often parasitize and even kill adult amphibians [56][57][58][59][60]. In breeding males of L. boringii, a few to dozens of unidentified leeches several millimeters in length have frequently been found on submerged individuals bearing red spotlike hemorrhages in the skin from stabbing (Y. Zheng, personal observation).…”

Section: Effect Of Skin Looseness In Combatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male spiny frogs enter the underwater battlefield with loose skin exhibiting enhanced penetration of capillaries into the epidermis

Xu,

Dai,

Zheng

2023

Zoological Lett

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The skin has multiple functions, and capillaries can penetrate the epidermis to shorten the diffusion path while allowing maintenance of overall epidermal thickness for nonrespiratory roles. However, a method for quantifying the capillary penetration extent is lacking. Such a method may facilitate making comparisons and detecting associations, potentially making the extent a useful variable in biological studies. We quantified the extent as the ratio of the average minimum thickness of epidermis overlying each capillary to the average epidermal thickness along a skin section and then explored its performance in the Emei mustache toad, Leptobrachium boringii, a species in which breeding males with loose skin call and fight each other with maxillary spines underwater. The ratio showed informative associations with other variables, such as perfused capillary density. It displayed small intragroup variation and could be more sensitive than other variables in revealing structural differences in the skin. The ratio estimates were lowest and were correlated with epidermal and stratum compactum thicknesses in breeding males, i.e., a covariation but not reinforcement against stabbing, constituting early evidence consistent with the increased extensibility of loose skin conferring a defensive advantage during combat in amphibians. In addition, our results lead to the hypothesis that high hemoglobin density along subepidermal capillaries favors the maintenance of low blood partial oxygen pressure and hence increases cutaneous oxygen uptake. We also provide evidence supporting the new idea that the cooccurrence of loose skin and underwater calling found in some frogs can be explained by the latter benefiting from a large functional respiratory surface area. Awareness of the usefulness of the ratio may promote its application and the quantification of the penetration. Regarding exchange surface design, these findings for L. boringii imply a case in which looseness increases surface area as well as prevents damage.

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Association of Leeches with the Endangered Houston Toad

Cited by 2 publications

References 28 publications

Acute Bladder Snails, Physa acuta Draparnaud 1805, as ectosymbionts of the endangered Houston Toad, Bufo (Anaxyrus) houstonensis Sanders 1953

Acute Bladder Snails, Physa acuta Draparnaud 1805, as ectosymbionts of the endangered Houston Toad, Bufo (Anaxyrus) houstonensis Sanders 1953

Male spiny frogs enter the underwater battlefield with loose skin exhibiting enhanced penetration of capillaries into the epidermis

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