The microvasculature of python pit organs: morphology and blood flow microkinetics

Boid snakes have infrared sensing pits that resemble crotaline pits in electrophysiological function and ultrastructure, but differ in gross morphology, number, and location: boids have three or more simple pits in the labial scales vs a single facial pair with more complex morphology in the crotalines. We studied the morphology of the capillary bed and the microkinetics of blood flow in a boid snake, the ball python, Python regius, and compared them with the already known condition in crotalines. We used a Doppler blood flow recorder in conjunction with an electrocardiograph to measure blood flow and heartbeat, and resin casts, transmission electron microscopy, and laser confocal microscopy to study capillary morphology. Blood flow in response to infrared stimulus was virtually identical in the two taxa, but the morphology of the capillary bed differed drastically. In the ball python pits, the capillary bed consisted of a forest of vertically oriented loops with a characteristic dome at the top in contact with the receptor layer of the fundus. Immunohistochemical staining showed pericytes constricting the capillaries and domes with smooth muscle alpha-actin-labeled processes. Since latency of response was as short as 1 ms, the capillaries were apparently responding under local control to provide both nutrition and cooling to the heat-sensitive receptors. We concluded that mitochondria-filled receptors provided with a swiftly responding cooling system were nature's most efficient way of attaining infrared imaging.