Effects of the shed skin aqueous extract of the non-poisonous snake, Ptyas mucosus (Linnaeus, 1758) on the development of the ovotestis of Onchidium tigrinum (Stoliczka 1869) (Systellommatophora: Eupulmonata: Gastropoda)

Abstract

The snake shed skin has long been used in folk as ethnomedicine for the treatment of various therapeutic purposes. The present study investigates the effects of the shed skin aqueous extract (SSAE) of the nonpoisonous snake Ptyas mucosus on the development of the ovotestis of the hermaphrodite slug, Onchidium tigrinum. The ovotestis consists of numerous ovoid-shaped acini, include both spermatogenesis and oogenesis. It is observed that the nonpoisonous SSAE has some significant detrimental effects on the gametogenesis of the slug only on direct contact into the body fluid of the individuals, otherwise, the SSAE has no significant harmful effect on the ovotestis constituents. The most noticeable pathological effects in spermatogenesis are - the arrangement of developing sperm bundles and their typical twisting pattern have deteriorated, the head of the sperm become a small bead-like structure, the pyramidal development of the spermatogenic cells is lower in number in the acini. On the other hand, the oocyte lost its basal integrity with the acinar boundary. The oolemma of the oocytes becomes irregularly shrank. Some small ooplasmic blebbing have commonly been found near the oolemma. The cell membrane of most of the cells in the acini has been damaged and several bare nuclei have frequently been observed in the acinar space. The somatic cells such as Sertoli cells, follicle cells, etc. in the acini appeared as the cellular remnants. It advocates that the SSAE has more detrimental effects on the oogenic cells than that of the spermatogenic cells in the mollusc.