Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The pituitary gland of the brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri) before, during and after metamorphosis (A preliminary, qualitative investigation)

  • Published:
Zeitschrift für Zellforschung und Mikroskopische Anatomie Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

  1. 1.

    The glandular parts of the lamprey pituitary develop from the solid nasohypophyseal stalk.

  2. 2.

    The pro-adenohypophysis consists of only one type of cell; this is basophilic and also PAS-positive, and it probably produces the gonadotropic hormone.

  3. 3.

    In the meso-adenohypophysis, two types of cells are present; the more numerous of these is chromophobic, and possibly produces the somatotropic hormone. The other type is basophilic, stains with aniline-blue, is PAS-positive and can be stained by the chrome-haematoxylinphloxin method of Gomori. These latter cells are only active for a short time before, during and after metamorphosis and probably produce the thyrotropic hormone.

  4. 4.

    The meta-adenohypophysis is highly active during and shortly after metamorphosis, whereas before metamorphosis no activity could be observed in the cells.

    It is assumed that these cells are the source of the melanophore-dispersing principle. Their abrupt activity can be related to the fact that the larvae live burrowed in the mud and that metamorphosing animals are free-swimming animals with a clear colour-pattern.

  5. 4.

    Abundant neuro-secretory material is present in the neurohypophysis: this substance disappears during and after metamorphosis. It is highly probable that it contains the water-balance principle.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature

  • Beer, G. R. de: The comparative anatomy, histology and development of the pituitary body. London: Oliver & Boyd 1926.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charipper, H. A.: The morphology of the hypophysis in lower vertebrates, particularly Fish and Amphibia, with some notes on the cytology of the pituitary of Incarassius aumtus (the goldfish) and Necturus maculosus (the mudpuppy). Cold Spr. Harb. Symp. quant. Biol. 5, 151–164 (1937).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cordier, R.: L' hypophyse de Xenopus; interprétation histophysiologique. Ann. Soc. roy. zool. Belg. 84, 5–16 (1953).

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, J. D.: The comparative anatomy of the hypophysis, with special reference to its blood supply and innervation. Amer. J. Anat. 88, 225–311 (1951).

    Google Scholar 

  • Herlant, M.: Anatomie et histophysiologie comparée de l'hypophyse antérieure chez les Mammifères. Ann. Soc. roy. zool. Belg. 82, 463–495 (1951).

    Google Scholar 

  • —: Anatomie et physiologie comparées de l'hypophyse dans la série des vertébrés. Bull. Soc. zool. France 79, 256–281 (1954).

    Google Scholar 

  • Knowles, F. G. W.: The influence of anterior-pituitary and testicular hormones on the sexual maturation of lampreys. J. exp. Biol. 16, 535–547 (1939).

    Google Scholar 

  • —: The duration of larval life in Ammocoetes and an attempt to accelerate metamorphosis by injections of an anterior-pituitary extract. Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 111, 101–109 (1941).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanzing, W. J. R.: The occurrence of a waterbalance-, a melanophore-expanding and an oxytocic principle in the pituitary gland of the river-lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis L.). Acta endocr. (Kbh.) 16, 277–284 (1954).

    Google Scholar 

  • Leach, W. J.: The hypophysis of lampreys in relation to the nasal apparatus. J. Morph. 89, 217–255 (1951).

    Google Scholar 

  • Olivereau, Madeleine, et M. Herlant: Etude histologique de l'hypophyse de Caecobarbus Geertsii Blgr. Bull. Acad. roy. Sci. Belg. 40, 50–57 (1954).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickford, Grace E., and J. W. Atz: The physiology of the pituitary gland of fishes. New York: New York Zool. Society 1957.

    Google Scholar 

  • Purves, H. D., and W. E. Griesbach: The site of thyrotrophin and gonadotrophin production in the rat pituitary studied by McManus-Hotchkiss staining for glycoprotein. Endocrinology 49, 244–264 (1951).

    Google Scholar 

  • Redeke, H. C.: De visschen van Nederland. Leiden: Sijthoff 1941.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romeis, B.: Innersekretorische Drüsen II, Hypophyse. In Handbuch der mikroskopischen Anatomie des Menschen, Bd. 6, Teil 3. Berlin-Göttingen — Heidelberg: Springer 1940.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth, W. D.: The pars distalis of the adenohypophysis of the sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus. Anat. Rec. 127, 445 (1957).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stendell, W.: Die Hypophysis cerebri. In Lehrbuch der vergleichenden mikroskopischen Anatomie der Wirbeltiere, Bd. 8. Jena: Gustav Fischer 1914.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilney, F.: The hypophysis cerebri in Petromyzon marinus dorsatus Wilder. Bull, neurol. Inst. N. Y. 6, 70–117 (1937).

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, J. Z.: The photoreceptors of lampreys. II The functions of the pineal complex. J. exp. Biol. 12, 254–270 (1935).

    Google Scholar 

  • —: The life of Vertebrates. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1950.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, J. Z., and C. W. Bellerby: The response of the lamprey to injection of anterior lobe pituitary extract. J. exp. Biol. 12, 246–253 (1935).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoologisch Laboratorium der Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, Holland

    J. C. van de Kamer & A. F. Schreurs

Authors
  1. J. C. van de Kamer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. F. Schreurs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Acknowledgments: The authors wish to express their sincere thanks to Dr. J. M. Dodd for his help in preparing the English text, to Prof. Dr. R. Cordier and Dr. M. Herlant for their valuable remarks, and to Prof. Dr. G. J. Van Oordt and Prof. Dr. Chr. P. Raven, for their suggestions and interest during the work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

van de Kamer, J.C., Schreurs, A.F. The pituitary gland of the brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri) before, during and after metamorphosis (A preliminary, qualitative investigation). Zeitschrift füur Zellforschung 49, 605–630 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00338867

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00338867

Keywords

Search

Navigation