Getting ready for a long bath: skin permeability decreases prior to aquatic breeding in male toads
- 3 October 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in The Science of Nature
- Vol. 108 (6), 1-6
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-021-01761-x
Abstract
Vertebrate skin regulates exchanges between the organism and its environment and notably plays a fundamental role in regulating water fluxes. Dynamic changes of skin resistance to water fluxes are expected to occur in species that regularly shift between habitat types especially if these habitats differ in their hydric properties (e.g., terrestrial versus aquatic). We investigated changes of skin permeability using a study system (terrestrial toads) where reproduction induces a transition from terrestrial to freshwater habitats and a prolonged immersion that can last several weeks in males. In this system, the simultaneity between skin shedding and the onset of breeding suggests that the production of new integument layers prior to immersion for reproduction may regulate water influxes. We found that the skin permeability of male toads decreases significantly prior to breeding, suggesting that skin shedding at the onset of breeding regulates water fluxes to alleviate osmotic costs of immersion during reproduction. The continued decrease of skin permeability detected during breeding suggests that additional mechanisms interact with skin structure to further decrease permeability to water during a prolonged immersion. Future studies are required to assess whether changes in skin permeability to water tradeoffs with other skin characteristics (gas exchanges) relevant to aquatic breeding amphibians.Keywords
Funding Information
- CNRS
- Agence de l'eau Loire-Bretagne
- Agence de l'Eau Adour-Garonne
- Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l’Alimentation, de l’Environnement et du Travail (BiodiTox project # 2019/1/031)
- Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Multistress 2017-1R20110, Aquastress 2018-1R20214, Amphitox 2019-1R20216 projects)
- Conseil Départemental des Deux-Sèvres
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