Calhoun, Charles H.

Daly, James J., Sr.

English

UARK (University of Arkansas )

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science Volume 32 Article 28 1978 Presence of an Unusual Eosinophilic Staining Substance in the Blood of Snakes James J. Daly Sr. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Charles H. Calhoun Little Rock Zoo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas  Part of the Microbiology Commons, and the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Daly, James J. Sr. and Calhoun, Charles H. (1978) "Presence of an Unusual Eosinophilic Staining Substance in the Blood of Snakes," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 32 , Article 28. Available at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol32/iss1/28 This article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able to read, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This General Note is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu. Arkansas Academy of Science Proceedings, Vol.XXXII,1978 87GENERAL NOTESTHE PRESENCE OF AN UNUSUAL EOS1NOPHILIC STAINING SUBSTANCE IN THE BLOOD OF SNAKESTelford (J. Florida Acad. Sci.. .14:78-80, 1971) reported that certain Giemsa-stained blood smears from the lacertid. Takydromosmchydromnides. collected from Japan, had a peculiar staining reaction. Rather than the usual light bluish-gray background seen on such prepara-lions. some smears had a reddish appearance. This reaction could be easily detected bymacroscopic examination of the stained smear. Micro-scopically, this odd background material appeared tobe precipitated between the blood cells and ranged in color from a lightpink to a brick red.Allblood smears with this reaction came from 41 female lizards that, with three exceptions, had developed yolk follicles to some degree. Telfordconcluded that the reddish precipitate resulted from lipidmaterials mobilized during vitellogenesis. Ayalaand Spain (Copeia. 197.S: 138-141. 1975)confirmed and furthered these observations with Anoli.i auratus from South America. Complete correlation was seen between the appearance ofihe reddish-staining reaction onblood smears and oogenesis of autopsied female lizards. It was suggested that use of such a blood smear tech-nique would allow the followingof reproductive cycles in reptiles without permanent removal of animals from the environment. Ayala and Spainspeculated that the precipitated material was probably lipoprotein that is found in reptileblood during yolk deposition. This conclusion was basedon the data of Dessauer and Fox (Amer. J. Physiol., 197:360-366, 1959) from studies of plasma constituents of ribbon snakes undergoing oogene-sis. The latter investigators were, however, unaware of Ihe reddish-staining reaction of blood smears from oogenic reptiles with Romanowskyblood stains. To our knowledge, this highlyeosinophilic material has not been isolated or chemically identified.Ina survey forblood parasites of 100 snakes collected fromLonoke County. Arkansas, inMay and June of 1975, seven animals had this red-dish staining reaction. Blood for smears was obtained either by decapitation or tailclipping and stained with Wright's using an Ames Hematekautomatic staining machine. Positive blood specimens were found from three Natrix erythrogaster (yellow-bellied water snake), one Natrixrhnmhifera (diamond-back water snake), one Natrix grahami (Graham's water snake), one Thamnophis proximus (western ribbon snake), andone FAaphe nh.inlela (black rat snake). As far as we can ascertain, this reaction has not been reported from any ophidians or other reptiles fromNorth America. Unfortunately, the E. obsoleta (a female) was the only snake withpositive blood smears that was sexed. It was kept in captivityand gender was determined at autopsy a year later. The reddish-staining reaction was discovered after the six other positive snakes had been dis-carded. Therefore, any relationship between the presence of the reddish substance and oogenesis insnakes isnot yet established. Inthis regard, itshould be noted that, with the exception of the black rat snake, all of the snakes in this report are live-bearers as opposed to the previous reportswith egg-laying lizards.The staining reaction on the blood smears of the seven snakes ranged from a lightbackground to an intense, bright red. Acomparison can bemade between a smear withthe normal very light,transparent stained plasma (Fig. 1A)and a smear with the most intense staining reaction of theprecipitated material (Fig. IB). Not previously noted is that the eosinophilic substance seems to accumulate more around the erythrocytes thanthe white cells. Since the nature of this reddish-staining material has been onlyconjecture, it would seem in order to isolate and chemically iden-tify this unusual substance that has been previously associated wiih the plasma ofoogenic lizards only. The finding of this material in such largeand readily available ophidians such as water snakes wouldmake obtaining reasonable quantities of this substance feasible for future studies.Figure 1. Blood smears stained with Wright's from Natrix rhombifera (A)with the usual transparent, lightlybasophilic background and Natnxgrahami(B) containing the eosinophilic-staining substance between the cells. Oilimmersion (x]300).BF.SJ. DALY.Department ofMicrobiologyand Immunology. 11niversitv ofArkansas forMedical Sciences. Little Rock. Arkansas 7221)1 andRLFSH. CALHOUN.Little Rock Zoological Gardens. LittleRock. Arkansas 72201.LONGEVITY OF WHITE BASS INBF.AVER RESERVOIR. ARKANSASKAmark and recapture study to determine the movements of white bass. Morone chrysops (Rafinesque). inBeaver Reservoir, Arkansas, waslucted during the winters of 1967-68 and 1968-69. The recapture of four of these tagged white bass in 1974-76 produced new longevilv recordshis latitude. The oldest white bass previously recorded from southern United States waters (Center HillReservoir. Tennessee) was ;in8-year-Webb and Moss. Proc. Annu. Conf. Southeast. Assoc. Game Fish. Coram. 2KI967):343-357. 1968). Beaver and Center HillReservoirs are at87Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 32 [1978], Art. 28Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 1978

Presence of an Unusual Eosinophilic Staining Substance in the Blood of Snakes

ScholarWorks@UARK

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of ScienceVolume 32 Article 281978Presence of an Unusual Eosinophilic StainingSubstance in the Blood of SnakesJames J. Daly Sr.University of Arkansas for Medical SciencesCharles H. CalhounLittle Rock ZooFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaasPart of the Microbiology Commons, and the Zoology CommonsThis article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able toread, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking priorpermission from the publisher or the author.This General Note is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the ArkansasAcademy of Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu, ccmiddle@uark.edu.Recommended CitationDaly, James J. Sr. and Calhoun, Charles H. (1978) "Presence of an Unusual Eosinophilic Staining Substance in the Blood of Snakes,"Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 32 , Article 28.Available at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol32/iss1/28Arkansas Academy of Science Proceedings, Vol.XXXII,1978 87GENERAL NOTESTHE PRESENCE OF AN UNUSUAL EOS1NOPHILIC STAINING SUBSTANCE IN THE BLOOD OF SNAKESTelford (J. Florida Acad. Sci.. .14:78-80, 1971) reported that certain Giemsa-stained blood smears from the lacertid. Takydromosmchydromnides. collected from Japan, had a peculiar staining reaction. Rather than the usual light bluish-gray background seen on such prepara-lions. some smears had a reddish appearance. This reaction could be easily detected bymacroscopic examination of the stained smear. Micro-scopically, this odd background material appeared tobe precipitated between the blood cells and ranged in color from a lightpink to a brick red.Allblood smears with this reaction came from 41 female lizards that, with three exceptions, had developed yolk follicles to some degree. Telfordconcluded that the reddish precipitate resulted from lipidmaterials mobilized during vitellogenesis. Ayalaand Spain (Copeia. 197.S: 138-141. 1975)confirmed and furthered these observations with Anoli.i auratus from South America. Complete correlation was seen between the appearance ofihe reddish-staining reaction onblood smears and oogenesis of autopsied female lizards. It was suggested that use of such a blood smear tech-nique would allow the followingof reproductive cycles in reptiles without permanent removal of animals from the environment. Ayala and Spainspeculated that the precipitated material was probably lipoprotein that is found in reptileblood during yolk deposition. This conclusion was basedon the data of Dessauer and Fox (Amer. J. Physiol., 197:360-366, 1959) from studies of plasma constituents of ribbon snakes undergoing oogene-sis. The latter investigators were, however, unaware of Ihe reddish-staining reaction of blood smears from oogenic reptiles with Romanowskyblood stains. To our knowledge, this highlyeosinophilic material has not been isolated or chemically identified.Ina survey forblood parasites of 100 snakes collected fromLonoke County. Arkansas, inMay and June of 1975, seven animals had this red-dish staining reaction. Blood for smears was obtained either by decapitation or tailclipping and stained with Wright's using an Ames Hematekautomatic staining machine. Positive blood specimens were found from three Natrix erythrogaster (yellow-bellied water snake), one Natrixrhnmhifera (diamond-back water snake), one Natrix grahami (Graham's water snake), one Thamnophis proximus (western ribbon snake), andone FAaphe nh.inlela (black rat snake). As far as we can ascertain, this reaction has not been reported from any ophidians or other reptiles fromNorth America. Unfortunately, the E. obsoleta (a female) was the only snake withpositive blood smears that was sexed. It was kept in captivityand gender was determined at autopsy a year later. The reddish-staining reaction was discovered after the six other positive snakes had been dis-carded. Therefore, any relationship between the presence of the reddish substance and oogenesis insnakes isnot yet established. Inthis regard, itshould be noted that, with the exception of the black rat snake, all of the snakes in this report are live-bearers as opposed to the previous reportswith egg-laying lizards.The staining reaction on the blood smears of the seven snakes ranged from a lightbackground to an intense, bright red. Acomparison can bemade between a smear withthe normal very light,transparent stained plasma (Fig. 1A)and a smear with the most intense staining reaction of theprecipitated material (Fig. IB). Not previously noted is that the eosinophilic substance seems to accumulate more around the erythrocytes thanthe white cells. Since the nature of this reddish-staining material has been onlyconjecture, it would seem in order to isolate and chemically iden-tify this unusual substance that has been previously associated wiih the plasma ofoogenic lizards only. The finding of this material in such largeand readily available ophidians such as water snakes wouldmake obtaining reasonable quantities of this substance feasible for future studies.Figure 1. Blood smears stained with Wright's from Natrix rhombifera (A)with the usual transparent, lightlybasophilic background and Natnxgrahami(B) containing the eosinophilic-staining substance between the cells. Oilimmersion (x]300).BF.SJ. DALY.Department ofMicrobiologyand Immunology. 11niversitv ofArkansas forMedical Sciences. Little Rock. Arkansas 7221)1 andRLFSH. CALHOUN.Little Rock Zoological Gardens. LittleRock. Arkansas 72201.LONGEVITY OF WHITE BASS INBF.AVER RESERVOIR. ARKANSASKAmark and recapture study to determine the movements of white bass. Morone chrysops (Rafinesque). inBeaver Reservoir, Arkansas, waslucted during the winters of 1967-68 and 1968-69. The recapture of four of these tagged white bass in 1974-76 produced new longevilv recordshis latitude. The oldest white bass previously recorded from southern United States waters (Center HillReservoir. Tennessee) was ;in8-year-Webb and Moss. Proc. Annu. Conf. Southeast. Assoc. Game Fish. Coram. 2KI967):343-357. 1968). Beaver and Center HillReservoirs are at87Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 32 [1978], Art. 28Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 1978

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Presence of an Unusual Eosinophilic Staining Substance in the Blood of Snakes

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