Harderian gland ultrastructure of the black sea bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus ponticus)

Abstract

Examination of the Harderian gland structure of the Black Sea bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus ponticus, at macroscopic, microscopic, and electron microscopic levels shows significant sexual dimorphism. The epithelial cells of male and female glands are different cell types, capable of producing chemically different products. Secretory cells in both sexes contain secretion granules that produce a secretion consisting mainly of proteins and carbohydrates, but thought to be sex-specific in composition. The female glands also contain lipid secretion granules. It is suggested that in the bottlenose dolphin the Harderian gland functions to produce sexually distinct pheromones and may have other physiological activities, e.g., participating in local immunological or endocrine-related reactions.

Whale tear glands in the bowhead and the beluga whales: Source and function

“…These appear to be largely separated in distinct lobules. These cells (in our study) may correspond to the secretory cells of the male dolphin Tursiops truncatus by Bodyak and Stepanova (). Type 1 cells of these authors are characterized by many ultrastructurally different types of secretory granules and could be the large cell type 1 identified by us, as characterized by histochemically different types of secretory granules.…”

“…There is much disparity in the literature regarding cetacean orbital gland nomenclature and distribution (see Rehorek et al, for review). Some published reports refer to a singular large, circumorbital gland as the orbital (Tarpley & Ridgway, ) or the Harderian (Bodyak & Stepanova, ; Funasaka et al, ; Ortiz et al, ) gland. Other authors identify groups of two to three individual glands that include the Harderian, lacrimal, and intervening conjunctival glands (Pütter, ; Rodrigues et al, ; Waller & Harrison, ; Weber, ).…”

“…Funasaka et al () showed that balaenopterid orbital glands possess secretory cells that are positive for both acidic and neutral glycosaminoglycans, although other cell types were not specified. Other descriptions identify multiple histochemically (Tarpley & Ridgway, ) or ultrastructurally (Bodyak & Stepanova, ; Ortiz et al, ; Waller & Harrison, ) characterized cell types, but do not identify specific anatomical sites within the glandular mass. Our study identified two histologically and histochemically distinct cell types in the bowhead and the beluga (large cell type 1 and small cell type 2).…”

Anatomy, histology, histochemistry and fine structure of the Harderian gland in the South American armadillo Chaetophractus villosus (Xenarthra, Mammalia)

“…This suggests the glycoprotein or protein nature of these vesicles. The occurrence of electron-dense vesicles, together with lipidic vesicles, was reported in the armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus (Weaker 1981), in hamsters (Lo´pez and Alvarez-Urı´a 1994), in dolphins (Bodyak and Stepanova 1994), and in the degu (Antolı´n-Gonza´lez et al 1993). The glycoprotein nature of the vesicles was only shown in dolphins (Bodyak and Stepanova 1994).…”

“…Among these, it has been held to be a site of immune responses in rodents (Antolı´n-Gonza´lez et al 1993;Sabry et al 2000); source of thermoregulatory lipids in rodents (Thiessen 1992); source of pheromones in rodents and cetaceans (Thiessen 1992;Bodyak and Stepanova 1994); photic entrainment of the central circadian clock in rodents (Cui et al 2003); influence on thyroid hormone levels in rodents (Buzzell and Mene´-dez-Pelaez 1992); regulation of pineal-hypothalamicpituitary-gonadal axis in rodents (Hoffman et al 1985); involvement in social interactions in rodents (Shanas and Terkel 1997); photoprotection and photoreception by exocrine production of porphyrins (Wetterberg et al 1970;Spike et al 1992;Cui et al 2003); and production of bactericidal and regenerating substances in lagomorphs and cetaceans (Ku¨hnel 1992;Bodyak and Stepanova 1994). Growth factors were described in rodents (Yokoyama et al 1992).…”