Phenotypic description of Egyptian endemic centipedes, genus Scolopendra Linnaeus, 1758 with a histological study of its venom glands.

Résumé

Abstract Background: Centipedes are widely distributed over all continents. They have important medicinal value and high toxicity, making it to be an interesting subject for evolutionary studies. Due to the lack of recent taxonomic revision in Egypt, this work and for the first study that is giving a fine report on the geographical distribution and morphometric description of Egyptian Scolopendra species.Result: Two Egyptian Scolopendra species were re-described based on fresh material based on a surveillance study in Egypt. Scolopendra canidens Newport.1844 were found in only one location. Scolopendra moristans Linnaeus,1758 was more abundant. Both venomous glands were histochemically investigated. This study is the first comparative report on the histology, and histochemistry of the venom glands of the Egyptian centipede species the glands in both species are mostly made up of columnar secretory cells that are radially arranged side by side and open through pores in a central chitinous duct. Striated muscular fibers envelop each secretory cell. Except for the size of the glands, which is related to the body dimensions of each species, the secretion takes the shape of small PAS-positive granules, suggesting the presence of neutral polysaccharides.Conclusion: According to this surveillance study the most abundant species was Scolopendra moristans Linnaeus,1758. Scolopendra canidens Newport.1844 were found only on the Northwest coast of Egypt. The findings show also that the analyzed species have a lot in common in terms of morphology and fundamental chemical makeup of their venom.

Citer ce document

Accès au document

Ce document est hébergé sur son dépôt institutionnel d'origine.

Auteur(s)

Statistiques

Consultations : 1

Téléchargements : 0