Hormones and Calcium Regulation in Fundulus heteroclitus

For the past 20 years, our laboratory has been involved in studyingthe endocrine control of calcium balance in the killifish, Fundulusheteroclitus. We have surveyed almost all endocrine systemsand discovered two main ones directly involved in plasma calciumregulation. They are the pituitary gland and the corpusclesof Stannius. When fish adapted to low-calcium seawater werehypophysectomized, hypocalcemia and tetany were observed. Whenfish adapted to high-calcium seawater were Stanniectomized,hypercalcemia was seen. In both cases, other electrolytes wereunaffected and replacement therapy corrected the plasma calciumchanges. We have tried to characterize the active principlesin both glands. We discovered that prolactin is hyperacalcemic.The pituitary gland also seems to contain a second hypercalcemicfactor which may be located in the PAS-positive pars intermediacells. For the Stannius corpuscle factors, we developed a bioassayand named the active substance(s) hypocalcin. In collaborationwith Dr. Hirofumi Sokabe at Jichi Medical School, Japan, weshowed that the Stannius corpuscles also contain a renin-likesubstance capable of generating a hypocalcemic angiotensin-likesubstance. The exact chemical nature of the hypocalcemic substanceis being investigated. Calcium balance in the whole fish wasalso studied with 47-calcium. These studies were carried outin collaboration with Dr. Nicole Mayer-Gostan at Villefranche-sur-Mer,France. We discovered that killifish depend on the environmentrather than bone as a calcium reservoir. Hormones may be involvedin the exchanges with the environment.