Scanning and transmission electron microscopy of the squamose gill-filament epithelium from fresh- and seawater adaptedTilapia |
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Authors: | Lev Fishelson |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Zoology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel |
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Abstract: | Synopsis The architecture of the gill structure of variousTilapia species was studied in relation to their adaptability to hypersaline media. Using SEM and EM, it was shown that the squamose
epithelial cells of the gills have species-typical patterns of ridges on their outer surfaces. These have previously been
misinterpreted by other authors as microvilli or stereocillia. The ridges are more dense and better developed in euryhaline
species, likeT. zillii, and less so in stenohaline species likeSarotherodon niloticus. Comparing freshwater and seawater-adapted individuals ofT. zillii, S. niloticus, S. galflaeus, andTristramella sacra, it was shown that in fresh water the surface cells are slightly swollen, extending over the openings of the chloride cells.
During adaptation to sea water, these ridges become higher and denser and the cell surface shrinks, exposing the underlying
orifices of the apical crypts of the chloride cells. The more euryhaline the species, the less change there is in the ridge
pattern of the cells during passage from fresh to sea water. This evidence implicates the gill epithelium, together with the
chloride cells, in the process of osmoregulation. |
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Keywords: | Gill epithelium Cell ridges Chloride cells Osmoregulation Fish culture Ionoregulation |
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