Taricha granulosa

Radiation adversely affects limb regeneration of amphibians, alters DNA metabolism, and increases the frequency of chromosomal aberrations and liver lesions (Table 32.25). In some species of amphibians and reptiles, as in many mammals, mortality rates after acute exposure to radiation do not stabilize within 30 days — effectively invalidating the conventional LD50 (30-day postexposure) value. In the rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa), for example, the minimal LD50 dose at 200 days after irradiation was 2.5 Gy, compared with 350 Gy at 30 days (Willis and... 

Willis, D.L. and B.B. Valett. 1971. Metabolism of iodine-131 in two amphibian species (Taricha granulosa and Rami pipiens). Pages 394-400 in D.J. Nelson (ed.). Radionuclides in Ecosystems. Proceedings of the Third National Symposium on Radioecology. May 10-12, 1971, Oak Ridge, TN. Vol. 1. Available from Natl. Tech. Infor. Serv., Springfield, VA 22151. 

Many urodeles produce irritating or even toxic secretions in their skin glands, and some are extremely toxic. The rough-skinned noNt Taricha granulosa) is the most toxic of newts from several genera. Its dorsal skin and ovarian eggs contain the very potent tetrodotoxin. Only 0.000 05 ml of newt skin is needed for a lethal peritoneal injection in mice. The skin of one newt can theoretically kill 25 000 mice. When bothered, the newt assumes a characteristic defense posture it arches, lifts its tail and releases an odor (Brodie etal., 1974). 

Hanfin, C. T., Brodie, E. D., Ill, and Brodie, E. D., Jr. (2003). Tetrodotoxin levels in eggs of rough-skin newt, Taricha granulosa, are correlated with female toxicity. Journal of Chemical Ecology 29,1729-1739. 

The newts, Taricha granulosa (collected m Oregon), were obtained through Carolina Biological Supply. Ultrafiltration apparatus Amicon High Performance... 

Kotaki, Y. and Shimizu, Y. (1993) l-Hydroxy-5,11-dideoxytetrodotoxin, the first N-hydroxy and ring-deoxy derivative of tetrodotoxin found in the newt Taricha granulosa. J Am. Chem. Soc 115, 827-830. 

Tetrodotoxin, however, has been isolated from the Californian newts Taricha torosa, Taricha rivularis, and Taricha granulosa it has formerly been called tarichatoxin but was later found to be identical with tetrodotoxin from Tetraodontidae. We now know that tetrodotoxin is a bacterial toxin (ref. 29) but we have no idea about this kind of symbiosis between bacteria and amphibia. It certainly does not act as a fungicide or bactericide (ref. 30) but it might act as a repellent against predators of the animals themselves or of their egg clusters as has been observed in Tetrodotoxin containing fish. 

Macaca mulatta Callimicogoeldii Hylobates concolor Homo sapiens (2j Taeniopygia guttata Homo sapiens (3j Taricha granulosa E. cubripes (a)... 

Bradley SG, Kilka LF. A fatal poisoning from the Oregon roughskinned newt (Taricha granulosa). JAMA 246 247, 1981. 

California newt, Tarichia torosa, 118 Eastern newt, Notophthalmus viridiscens, 710 Rough-skinned newt, Taricha granulosa. 111 Triturus spp., 132, 665... 

In the rough-skinned newt Taricha granulosa, arginine vasotocin (AVT) plays important roles in reproduction. It elicits oviposition in the female (Moore, Wood Boyd,... 

BEHAVIORAL EVIDENCE FOR A SEX PHEROMONE IN FEMALE ROUGHSKIN NEWTS, TARICHA GRANULOSA... 

Toyoda, Ohmiya, Matsuda, Tanaka, Hayaski, 1995), and others to produce pheromones that enhance female sexual receptivity (Houck and Reagan, 1990 Houck, Bell, Reagan-Wallin Feldhoff, 1998). The present study, on the other hand, provides behavioral evidence that female roughskin newts (Taricha granulosa. Family Salamandridae) produce a pheromone that elicits a stereotypical courtship response in males (amplectic clasping). This chemical signal is used by males for sexual-discrimination of potential mates and possibly to assess female reproductive state as well. 

Moore, F.L. 1978. Effects of progesterone on sexual attractivity in female roughskin newts, Taricha granulosa. Copeia, 1978,530-532. 

Moore, F.L., McCormack, C. and Swanson, L. 1979. Induced ovulation effects of sexual behavior and insemination on ovulation and progesterone levels in Taricha granulosa. Gen. and Comp. Endocrinol., 39, 262—269. Noble, G.K. 1937. The sense organs involved in the courtship of Storeria, Thamnophis, and other snakes. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 73, 61 A—125. 

Propper, C.R. 1991. Courtship in the roughskin newt, Taricha granulosa. Anim. Behav., 41, 547—554. 

Rough-skinned newt - http //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File Rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa).JPG... 

One common technique used to examine the toxicity of compounds in the skin of amphibians is to isolate the toxic compounds and inject them into laboratory mice to assay their toxicity. Daly et al. (1978), for example, used this technique to determine the toxicity of dendrobatid frogs. In another study, Brodie et al. (1974) calculated that a single newt Taricha granulosa) contains enough taricha-toxin to kill approximately 25,000 white mice. 

---