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Structure and ultrastructure of the pituitary gland in the sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus at different stages in its life cycle

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Summary

The structure and fine structure of the pituitary gland in the sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus L., are described at all major stages in the life cycle. Synthetically active adenohypophysial cells are evident in even the smallest ammocoetes examined (body length 2.5 cm). An attempt is made to correlate changes in the activity of pituitary cell types with biological events.

In the neurohypophysis a single fibre type was discriminated in electron micrographs. This contained electron-dense cytoplasmic granules 800 to 1600 Å in diameter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    R. Percy, John F. Leatherland & F. W. H. Beamish

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  1. R. Percy
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  2. John F. Leatherland
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  3. F. W. H. Beamish
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Additional information

We are indebted to Mr. P. Manion, United States Bureau of Commercial Fisheries for his generous donation of ammocoete lampreys. Our thanks are also extended to Dr. B. A. McKeown for his helpful discussion and Mrs. M. Percy and L. Lin for their technical assistance. The work was supported in part by a grant-in-aid-of research from the National Research Council of Canada (J.F.L.) and in part by an NRC “Physiology of Migration” development grant. This paper is number 120 in the “Physiology of migration” series.

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Percy, R., Leatherland, J.F. & Beamish, F.W.H. Structure and ultrastructure of the pituitary gland in the sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus at different stages in its life cycle. Cell Tissue Res. 157, 141–164 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00222063

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