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The sublingual salt gland is the primary site of salt excretion in sea snakes; however, little is known about the mechanisms mediating ion excretion. Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase (NKA) and Na(+)/K(+)/2Cl(-) cotransporter (NKCC) are two proteins known to regulate membrane potential and drive salt secretion in most vertebrate secretory cells. We hypothesized that NKA and NKCC would localize to the basolateral membranes of the principal cells comprising the tubular epithelia of sea snake salt glands. Although there is evidence of NKA activity in salt glands from several species of sea snake, the localization of NKA and NKCC and other potential ion transporters remains unstudied. Using histology and immunohistochemistry, we localized NKA and NKCC in salt glands from three species of laticaudine sea snake: Laticauda semifasciata, L. laticaudata, and L. colubrina. Antibody specificity was confirmed using Western blots. The compound tubular glands of all three species were found to be composed of serous secretory epithelia, and NKA and NKCC were abundant in the basolateral membranes. These results are consistent with the morphology of secretory epithelia found in the rectal salt glands of marine elasmobranchs, the nasal glands of marine birds and the gills of teleost fishes, suggesting a similar function in regulating ion secretion.

We recently determined that rapid changes in environmental salinity alter endothelin-1 (EDN1) mRNA levels in the euryhaline killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus, so we hypothesized that EDN1 may be a local regulator of gill ion transport in teleost fishes. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of changes in environmental salinity on the gill endothelin receptors: EDNRA, EDNRB, and EDNRC. Using quantitative real-time PCR, we determined that after a fresh water (FW) to seawater (SW) transfer, there is a two to threefold increase in gill EDNRA and EDNRB mRNA levels. Likewise, we found a two to three fold increase in gill EDNRA and EDNRB protein concentration. In addition, killifish that have acclimated to FW for 30 days had significantly lower EDNRA mRNA and protein levels than SW killifish. ENDRA were immunolocalized to the mitochondrion-rich cells of the killifish gill, suggesting that EDN1 signaling cascades may affect MRC function. EDNRB were found throughout the gill vasculature and on lamellar pillar cells. We previously immunolocalized EDN1 to the pillar cell suggesting that EDN1 acts as an autocrine signaling molecule and potentially regulates pillar cell tone and lamellar perfusion. We conclude that EDN1 is physiologically active in the teleost gill, and regulated by environmental salinity. Future functional studies examining the physiological role of this system are necessary to completely understand EDN1 in the fish gill.