Summary
Red, intermediate and white axial muscle fibres of the sharks Etmopterus spinax and Galeus melastomus were studied by electron microscopy and morphometry. The mitochondrial content is more than thirty percent in red, less than one percent in white, and up to fifteen percent in intermediate fibres. About one third of the mitochondria in red fibres are accumulated close to the sarcolemma. Red fibres contain much glycogen, present as rosettes (alpha particles). Intermediate fibres contain less glycogen (as beta particles). White fibres have scarcely any visible energy reserves. Red fibres contain slightly less (4–5%) of the sarcotubular system than the other fibre types (6–8 %). In all fibre types, the terminal cisternae of the SR are regularly divided by clefts. Triads or dyads are generally positioned at the Z discs, but in Galeus white fibres two dyads may be present, one on each side of the Z disc. The morphology is discussed in relation to current views on the functions of different muscle fibre types.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Biava, Identification and structural forms of human paniculate glycogen. Lab. Invest. 12, 1179–1197 (1963)
Bilinski, E.: Utilization of lipids by fish. I. Fatty acid oxidation by tissue slices from dark and white muscle of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) Canad. J. Biochem. Physiol. 41, 107–112 (1963)
Bishop, C.M., Odense, P.H.: The ultrastructure of the white striated myotomal muscle of the cod, Gadus morrhua. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 24, 2549–2553 (1967)
Bone, Q.: On the function of the two types of myotomal muscle fibre in elasmobranch fish. J. mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 46, 321–349 (1966)
Braekkan, O.R.: Function of the red muscle in fish. Nature (Lond.) 178, 747–748 (1956)
Braekkan, O.R.: A comparative study of vitamins in the trunk muscles of fishes. Rep. technol. Res. Norw. Fish Ind. 3, 1–42 (1959)
Davey, D.F., Mark, R.F., Marotte, L.R., Proske, U.: Structure and innervation of extraocular muscles of Carassius. J. Anat. (Lond.) 120, 131–147 (1975)
Eichelberg, H.: The fine structure of the drum muscles of the tigrefish, Therapon jarbua, as compared with the trunk musculature. Cell Tiss. Res. 174, 453–463 (1976)
Fawcett, D.W.: The Cell. Its organelles and inclusions. 448 pp. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 1969
Flood, P.R.: A peculiar mode of muscular innervation in amphioxus. Light and electron microscopic studies of the so-called ventral roots. J. comp. Neurol. 126, 181–217 (1966)
Flood, P.R.: Structure of the segmental trunk muscle in amphioxus. With notes on the course and “ending” of the so-called ventral root fibres. Z. Zellforsch. 84, 389–416 (1968)
Flood, P.R., Kryvi, H., Totland, G.K.: Onto-phylogenetic aspects of muscle fibre types in the segmental trunk muscle of lower chordates. Folia Morph. 25, 64–67 (1977)
Franzini-Armstrong, C., Porter, K.R.: Sarcolemmal invaginations constituting the T system in fish muscle fibres. J. Cell Biol. 22, 675–696 (1964)
Fraser, D.I., Mannan, A., Dyer, D.J.: Proximate composition of Canadian atlantic fish. III. Sectional differences in the flesh of species of Chondrostei, one of Chimaerae, and of some miscellaneous teleosts. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 18, 893–905 (1961)
George, J.C.: A histophysiological study of the red and white muscles of the mackerel. Amer. Midl. Nat. 68, 487–494 (1962)
George, J.C., Bokdawala, D.: Cellular organisation and fat utilization in fish muscle. J. Anim. Morph. Physiol. 11, 124–132 (1964)
Jasper, D.: Body muscles of the lamprey. Some structural features of the T system and sarcolemma. J. Cell Biol. 32, 219–227 (1967)
Kilarski, W.: Cytomorphometry of sarcoplasmic reticulum in extrinsic eye muscle of the teleost (Tinca tinca L). Z. Zellforsch. 136, 535–544 (1973)
Korneliussen, H., Nicolaysen, K.: Ultrastructure of four types of striated muscle fibers in the atlantic hagfish (Myxine glutinosa, L). Z. Zellforsch. 143, 273–290 (1973)
Korneliussen, H., Nicolaysen, K.: Distribution and dimension of the T-system in different muscle fiber types in the atlantic hagfish (Myxine glutinosa, L). Cell Tiss. Res. 157, 1–16 (1975)
Kryvi, H.: The structure of the myosatellite cells in axial muscles of the shark Galeus melastomus. Anat. Embryol. 147, 35–44 (1975)
Kryvi, H., Slinde, E.: Isolation and morphology of mitochondria from red axial muscle fibres of the shark Galeus melastomus. Cytobiologie 15, 221–232 (1977)
Kryvi, H., Totland, G.K.: Histochemical studies with microphotometric determinations of the lateral muscles in the sharks Galeus melastomus and Etmopterus spinax. J. mar. biol. Ass. U. K. 57, 261–271 (1977a)
Kryvi, H., Totland, G.K.: Histochemistry and structure of the locomotory muscles of the cartilaginous fish Chimaera monstrosa. J. Fish Biol. (in press) (1977b)
Lie, H.R.: A quantitative identification of three muscle fiber types in the body muscle of Lampetra fluviatilis, and their relation to blood capillaries. Cell Tiss. Res. 154, 109–119 (1974)
Mellgren, S.I. Mathisen, J.S.: Oxidative enzymes, glycogen and lipid in striated muscle. A histochemical study in the atlantic hagflsh (Myxine glutinosa (L)). Z. Zellforsch. 71, 169–188 (1966)
Müller, W.: Subsarcolemmal mitochondria and capillarization of soleus muscle fibres in young rats subjected to an endurance training. Cell Tiss. Res. 174, 367–389 (1976)
Nag, A.C.: Ultrastructure and adenosine triphosphatase activity of red and white muscle fibres of the caudal region of a fish, Salmo gairdneri. J. Cell Biol. 55, 42–57 (1972)
Nag, A.C., Nursall, J.R.: Histogenesis of white and red muscle fibres of trunk muscles of a fish Salmo gairdneri. Cytobios 6, 227–246 (1972)
Nishihara, H.: Studies on the fine structure of red and white fin muscles of the fish (Carassius auratus). Arch, histol. Jap. 28, 425–447 (1967)
Page, S.G.: A comparison of the fine structures of frog slow and twitch muscle fibres. J. Cell Biol. 26, 477–497 (1965)
Patterson, S., Goldspink, G.: The fine structure of red and white myotomal muscle in a marine teleost, the coalfish (Gadus virens) Z. Zellforsch. 133, 463–474 (1972)
Peachey, L.D.: The sarcoplasmic reticulum and transverse tubules of the frog's sartorius. J. Cell Biol. 25, 209–231 (1965)
Teräväinen, H.: Anatomical and physiological studies on muscles of lamprey. J. Neurophysiol. 34, 954–973 (1971)
Totland, G.K.: Three muscle fibre types in the axial muscle of Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum Shaw). A quantitative light- and electron microscopic study. Cell Tiss. Res. 168, 65–78 (1976)
Totland, G.K., Kryvi, H., Slinde, E.: LDH isoenzyme pattern in the three fibre types in axial muscles of the sharks Galeus melastomus and Etmopterus spinax. J. Fish. Biol. in press (1977)
Weibel, E.R.: Stereological techniques for electron microscopic morphometry. In: Principles and techniques of electron microscopy, Vol. III (M.A. Hayat, ed.). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Comp. 1973
Weibel, E.R., Elias, H.: Quantitative methods in morphology. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer 1967
Wittenberger, C., Coprean, D., Morar, L.: Studies on the carbohydrate metabolism of the lateral muscles in carp (influence of phloridzin, insulin and adrenaline). J. comp. Physiol. 101, 161–172 (1975)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Supported by a grant from the Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities (NAVF). The author thanks Dr. Per R. Flood, Bergen, for helpful advice. Dr. Helge Korneliussen, Oslo, kindly revised the manuscript, and Dr. Bill Kennedy, California, corrected the English
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kryvi, H. Ultrastructure of the different fibre types in axial muscles of the sharks Etmopterus spinax and Galeus melastomus . Cell Tissue Res. 184, 287–300 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00219891
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00219891