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The Contrasting Roles of the Salt Glands, The Integument and Behavior in Osmoregulation of Marine Reptiles

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Osmoregulation in Estuarine and Marine Animals

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes on Coastal and Estuarine Studies ((COASTAL,volume 9))

Abstract

Saline waters are a rigourous environment for reptiles in the sense that very few species are able to cope with the problems of hypoosmoregulation. Extracellular fluid concentration is maintained at approximately the same level in reptiles living in deserts, fresh water, or in the sea (Dunson, 1979a; Minnich, 1979, 1982). A general trend among the reptiles is for development of extrarenal or extracloacal mechanisms to handle electrolyte excretion under dehydrating conditions on land or in salt water. This is a consequence of the inability of the kidney to secrete urine hyperosmotic to the plasma (Dantzler, 1976). Ever since the discovery in 1958 by Schmidt -Nielsen and Fänge of salt glands in reptiles, attention has focused on the role of these unique organs in osmoregulation (Dunson, 1976, 1981a; Peaker and Linzell, 1975). The presence of salt glands in all fully marine reptiles and their striking functional similarity to avian nasal salt glands has perhaps contributed to a misunderstanding of their actual role in water and ion balance. While salt glands seem quite important as osmoregulatory organs, they are only part of an overall system that regulates both intake and loss of salts and water. The first indication that organs other than the salt glands were critical factors in osmoregulation of marine reptiles came from studies on variation in excretion rate among sea snake salt glands (Dunson and Dunson, 1974).

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Authors
  1. W. A. Dunson
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Animal Physiology, University of Liège, 22, Quai Van Beneden, B-4020, Liège, Belgium

    A. Pequeux  & R. Gilles  & 

  2. Laboratory of General Physiology, University of Messina, Via dei Verdi 85, Messina, Italy

    L. Bolis

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© 1984 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Dunson, W.A. (1984). The Contrasting Roles of the Salt Glands, The Integument and Behavior in Osmoregulation of Marine Reptiles. In: Pequeux, A., Gilles, R., Bolis, L. (eds) Osmoregulation in Estuarine and Marine Animals. Lecture Notes on Coastal and Estuarine Studies, vol 9. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-45574-2_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-45574-2_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-13353-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-45574-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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