The structure of teleost epidermis with special reference to new qualitative and quantitative data from the guppy, Poecilia reticulata Peters
Schwerdtfeger, W.K.
Zeitschrift für Mikroskopisch-Anatomische Forschung 92(1): 193-205
1978
ISSN/ISBN: 0044-3107 PMID: 749378 Document Number: 130762
Scales from the midlateral body region of adult male guppies, P. reticulata were investigated morphometrically by light microscopy and EM. The epidermis consists of 1 superficial layer and, in general, 2 basal layers of filament-containing cells and a number of mucus cells. There are scattered chemosensory cells and unmyelinated, nerve fibers. Superficial cells are flattened and form apical ridges in a fingerprint-like arrangement. The volume density of mitochondria, granular endoplasmic reticulum, and the numerical density of dictyosomes are higher in superficial cells than in basal cells. The superficial cells are secretorily active. Small electron-dense vesicles are transported from the dictyosomes to the body surface and yield, the glycocalyx material, which is not identical with the slime produced by the mucus cells.