Plasma Homeostasis and Cloacal Urine Composition in Crocodylus porosus Caught Along a Salinity Gradient

Juveniles of the Estuarine or Saltwater Crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, maintain both osmotic pressure and plasma electrolyte homeostasis along a salinity gradient from fresh water to the sea. In fresh water (FW) the cloacal urine is a clear solution rich in ammonium and bicarbonate and containing small amounts of white precipitated solids with high concentrations of calcium and magnesium. In salt water (SW) the cloacal urine has a much higher proportion of solids, cream rather than white in colour, which are the major route for excretion of potassium in addition to calcium and magnesium. Neither liquid nor solid fractions of the cloacal urine represent a major route for excretion of sodium chloride. The solids are urates and uric acid, and their production probably constitutes an important strategy for water conservation by C. porosus in SW. These data, coupled with natural history observations and the recent identification of lingual salt glands, contribute to the conclusion that C. porosus is able to live and breed in either fresh or salt water and may be as euryhaline as any reptile