Mitochondria-rich cells in Antarctic fish gills.

We used transmission and scanning electron microscopy and an antibody to the inner mitochondrial membrane to study the presence and localisation of mitochondria-rich cells in the gills of two Antarctic ®shes, Chionodraco hamatus (Channichthyidae) and Trematomus bernacchii (Nototheniidae). The genera...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Biology
Main Authors: MASINI, MARIA ANGELA, M. STURLA, P. PRATO, B. UVA
Other Authors: Masini, MARIA ANGELA, M., Sturla, P., Prato, B., Uva
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2000
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11579/90656
https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050441
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Summary:We used transmission and scanning electron microscopy and an antibody to the inner mitochondrial membrane to study the presence and localisation of mitochondria-rich cells in the gills of two Antarctic ®shes, Chionodraco hamatus (Channichthyidae) and Trematomus bernacchii (Nototheniidae). The general morphology of the gills in the two species was slightly dierent: in T. bernacchii the ®lament and secondary lamellae were short and thicker, and mitochondria-rich cells were less numerous than in C. hamatus. In the two species the mitochondria-rich cells, distributed in the secondary and primary epithelium, were of the same morphological type, similar to the —-chloride cells of temperate seawater teleosts. The study was carried out to compare the mitochondria-rich cells of Antarctic ®shes to the chloride cells of temperate marine teleosts. Immunolocalisation, using a speci®c antibody to the —-subunit of Na+/K+-ATPase, was observed in nu- merous epithelial cells in the interlamellar epithelium and on the secondary lamellae, suggesting an active sodium chloride secretion.