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Bacteria in the gular and paracloacal glands of the American alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis ; Reptila, Crocodilia)
Author(s) -
Williams P. A.,
Mitchell W.,
Wilson G. R.,
Weldon P. J.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
letters in applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.698
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1472-765X
pISSN - 0266-8254
DOI - 10.1111/j.1472-765x.1990.tb00268.x
Subject(s) - alligator , american alligator , library science , zoology , biology , ecology , computer science
All extant crocodilians possess two main exocrine skin glands: gular glands, located on the ventral surface of the lower jaw, and paracloacal glands, embedded in the walls of the cloaca. Twenty‐three species of bacteria were isolated from the gular and the paracloacal gland secretions of the American alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis ). All but two of the bacteria genera indicated‐ Bacillus and Corynebacterium ‐were Gram‐negative rods and cocci. Edwardsiella tarda and Escherichia coli were among the most common species indicated in both exudates. Citrobacter freundii , Enterobacter cloacae and other typically enteric organisms occur in one or both glands. No significant differences in the microbiota inhabiting the gular and the paracloacal were detected