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Assessing Leukocyte Profiles of Salamanders and Other Amphibians: A Herpetologists’ Guide

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Salamanders

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2562))

Abstract

Assessing numbers of leukocytes in salamanders and other amphibians can be useful metrics for understanding health or stress levels of individuals in a population. In this chapter we describe the procedures for obtaining blood samples from amphibians, preparing blood films for microscopy, counting, and identifying cells. We also provide reference values for amphibian leukocytes for use in interpreting leukocyte data. From our assessment of the published and unpublished literature, “non-stressed” salamanders would have a leukocyte profile where 60–70% of cells are lymphocytes, 17–30% are neutrophils, 1–4% are eosinophils, 4–12% are basophils, and 2–6% are monocytes. In Ambystoma spp., the eosinophil abundance can be notably higher (30% of all white blood cells), for reasons unknown. Finally, the neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio of most non-stressed salamanders tends to be between 0.3 and 0.4 (sometimes less), while the ratios of stressed salamanders tend to be over 1.0.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Odum School of Ecology, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Andrew K. Davis

  2. D.B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Andrew K. Davis & John C. Maerz

Authors
  1. Andrew K. Davis
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  2. John C. Maerz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to John C. Maerz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Ashley W. Seifert

  2. Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Joshua D. Currie

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© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

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Davis, A.K., Maerz, J.C. (2023). Assessing Leukocyte Profiles of Salamanders and Other Amphibians: A Herpetologists’ Guide. In: Seifert, A.W., Currie, J.D. (eds) Salamanders. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2562. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2659-7_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2659-7_29

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-2658-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-2659-7

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