Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Description
We investigated the concentration of tetrodotoxin (TTX) in sections of skin containing and lacking red dorsal spots in both Eastern newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) efts and adults. Several other species, such as Pleurodeles waltl and Echinotriton andersoni, have granular glands concentrated in brightly pigmented regions on the dorsum, and thus we hypothesized that the red dorsal spots of Eastern newts may also possess higher levels of TTX than the surrounding skin. We found no difference between the concentrations of TTX in the red spots as compared to neighboring skin lacking these spots in either efts or adults. However, efts with more red dorsal spots had elevated TTX levels relative to efts with fewer spots.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Citation Information
Spicer, Mackenzie M.; Stokes, Amber N.; Chapman, Trevor L.; Brodie, Edmund D.; Brodia, Edmund D.; and Gall, Brian G.. 2018. An Investigation into Tetrodotoxin (TTX) Levels Associated with the Red Dorsal Spots in Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) Efts and Adults. Journal of Toxicology. Vol.2018 https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/9196865 ISSN: 1687-8191
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2018 Mackenzie M. Spicer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.