Distribution and putative function of autonomic nerve fibres in the bill skin of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)

The electroreceptors located in the bill skin of the platypus are modified secretory glands. The electroreceptive nerve terminals form bare endings in close proximity to the duct of these glands. In this study, we describe the autonomic innervation of the glands and a separate specialized autonomic innervation of the epidermal portion of the glandular duct. A range of immunohistochemical labels showed that the gland cells of the electroreceptors have a non-noradrenergic (putative parasympathetic) innervation. Phalloidin labelling revealed a 'sphincter' of epidermal luminal cells that labelled strongly for actin. These actin-dense keratinocytes were seen to have a noradrenergic (putative sympathetic) innervation. Fine-diameter sensory fibres containing substance P (presumably C-fibre thermoreceptors or polymodal nociceptors) were observed to terminate in the superficial epidermis surrounding the pore of the gland. When the bill of the platypus is dry these pores were closed. However, when room temperature water was washed over the bill, the pores opened. It is proposed that this autonomic and sensory innervation, along with the actin sphincter, mediates the opening and closing of the pores. By doing this, the platypus prevents the desiccation of the bare electrosensory nerve terminals when it is out of the water, and it may also be a way to regulate the impedance of the internal electrical circuit presented to the water at the pores.