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Melatonin rhythms in the Australian freshwater crocodile (Crocodylus johnstoni): a reptile lacking a pineal complex?

Journal of Comparative Physiology B volume 180, pages 67–72 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

The vertebrate pineal gland is the primary source of melatonin, the rhythmic secretion of which is influenced by environmental light and temperature, thereby providing animals with information about seasonally changing photoperiod and thermoperiod. Although pineal glands are present in the majority of vertebrate species, a discrete organ is reported to be absent in the Crocodilia. However, if the melatonin rhythm is crucial to the survival of the organism, it would be expected that the rhythm would be present in crocodiles. In the present study, we measured blood plasma melatonin over a 30-h period in aestivating Australian freshwater crocodiles (Crocodylus johnstoni) in their natural habitat at the end of the dry season (November) and found no discernible melatonin rhythm. However, another group of captive-reared C. johnstoni, maintained under natural light and temperature cycles and sampled in the early dry season (June) showed a clear melatonin rhythm. These results suggest that there is either an extrapineal source of melatonin in this crocodile species or that there is melatonin producing tissue elsewhere which heretofore has not been discovered. Further studies are needed to determine why the melatonin rhythm is intermittently expressed and whether this may be related to seasonal changes in the expression of the rhythm linked to tropical environments.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ajio Pereira for help in the field and Shawn Rowe for technical assistance with the melatonin assays. Financial support was provided by grants from the University of Adelaide Faculty of Health Sciences. This research was conducted with approval and permits from the Northern Territory University (now called Charles Darwin University) Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee and the Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory, Australia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Discipline of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

    Bruce T. Firth

  2. School of Science and Primary Industries, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia

    Keith A. Christian

  3. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA, 5001, Australia

    Ingrid Belan

  4. Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

    David J. Kennaway

Authors
  1. Bruce T. Firth
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  2. Keith A. Christian
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  3. Ingrid Belan
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  4. David J. Kennaway
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Correspondence to Bruce T. Firth.

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Communicated by G. Heldmaier.

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Firth, B.T., Christian, K.A., Belan, I. et al. Melatonin rhythms in the Australian freshwater crocodile (Crocodylus johnstoni): a reptile lacking a pineal complex?. J Comp Physiol B 180, 67–72 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-009-0387-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-009-0387-8

Keywords

  • Crocodylus johnstoni
  • Freshwater crocodile
  • Melatonin rhythm
  • Pineal gland

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