Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Yousof Taziki ¹
• Ali Akbar Bagherian Yazdi ¹
• haji gholi kami ¹
• zahra nazari ²

¹ Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Golestan University

² Department of Biology, School of Basic Sciences, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran.

Abstract

Amphibians have lived on Earth for more than 300 million years. Two species of Pelophylax have been reported in Iran, which are Pelophylax bedriagae and Pelophylax gigas. In the present study, the skin structure of 48 water frogs (Pelophylax bedriagae) in four different regions has been investigated. After taking specimens from Gorgan, Alagol, Sari and Tonekabon regions, these specimens were transferred to the laboratory and a part of their dorsal and ventral surface skin was separated. After tissue preparation and Hematoxylin-Eosin staining, four skin characteristics, including epidermis thickness, dermis thickness, total skin thickness, and the number of mucous glands in one mm2 of skin, were examined under a light microscope and the obtained data were analyzed. The results of T and Mann-Whitney tests for all traits did not show significant differences between male and female groups. The results of parametric ANOVA and non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis tests showed that there is a significant difference between the investigated populations in all traits. The multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) test showed that the separation of populations is completely significant. The results of the cluster analysis divided the specimens into two groups based on the distance, the first group included the samples of Gorgan and Sari and the second group included the specimens of Alagol and Tonekabon. The results of the canonical analysis showed that 89.58% of the specimens fall into their categories. In general, this research showed that skin traits can be used in diagnostic analyzes and separate this group of animals.

Keywords

• Pelophylax bedriagae
• Skin
• Histologic examination
• Mucous gland

Main Subjects

• Biosystematic