On the organization of silvery layers in the skin of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) during smoltification and on the regeneration of these layers underAbnormal lighting conditions

• Published in: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
• Main Authors: Denton, E. J., Saunders, R. L.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1972
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315400040625; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0025315400040625

The reflecting layers in the external surfaces of salmon were studied during smoltification by making direct observations on the reflecting structures. The relationships between the reflecting layers in the epithelium external to the scales, in the tissues of the scales, and in the skin internal to the scales are given. Some fish, including fish blinded by pseudobranchectomy were reared under very abnormal lighting conditions and the processes of silvering and regeneration of scales followed on them. It was found that the pattern of silvering in smoltification and regeneration was not at all affected by lighting and that, although regenerated scales can easily be distinguished in other ways from those they replace, the orientations and reflectivities of their plate-lets are, with occasional exceptions, almost indistinguishable from those they replace.