Summary
Light microscopy and transverse electron microscopy has been employed to study the olfactory organs in 82 specimens of freshwater adapted young and homing adult Baltic sea trout Salmo trutta trutta L. In both sensory and indifferent epithelium the olfactory mucosa has scattered cells of a type that has not been described in any olfactory organ before. They are called labyrinth cells and are characterized by an extensive, turtuous, interconnected tubular system of smooth endoplasmatic reticulum intimately connected with numerous mitochondria. This cell type is similar to chloride and other cells which probably are involved in electrolyte transport in fish gills and pseudobranch, the rectal gland in elasmobranchs and the nasal gland in reptiles and birds. It is suggested that the olfactory organ in fish is serially homologous with the pseudobranch.
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Thanks are due to Prof. Dr. Gunnar Bloom, Section of Histology, University of Umeå for interesting discussions. The author also wish to acknowledge the technical facilities and assistance in the use of the electron microscope to Miss Karin Ekström and Miss Marianne Borg. The research was supported by grant 2389-11, 13 and 15 from the Swedish Natural Science Research Council.
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Bertmar, G. Labyrinth cells, a new cell type in vertebrate olfactory organs. Z.Zellforsch 132, 245–256 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307014
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307014