Abstract
Mature eggs are surrounded by a non-cellular envelope which serves to attract sperms but prevents polyspermy, protects the developing embryo, provides gas exchange and excretion, and, in viviparous fish, selects the transport of nutrients to the developing embryo. The envelope of some fish has proved to have an antibacterial function ‘(Riehl, 1991)’ (see Chapter 6). Most teleostean egg envelopes consist of more than one layer. They are each of complex architecture and structure, which are of taxonomic importance and are also considered to be of possible phylogenetic value.
‚Der interessanteste Theil des Fisheies sind unstreitig seine Hüllen, deren complicirter Bau von jeher die Aufmerksamkeit der Forscher auf sich gelenkt hat.‘
Brock (1878)
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© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Kunz, Y.W. (2004). Egg envelope. In: Developmental Biology of Teleost Fishes. Fish & Fisheries Series, vol 28. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2997-4_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2997-4_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-2996-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-2997-4
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