Summary
Scanning EM investigation of posterio-lateral parts of teleostean fish scales showed that the membranes of their surface epithelium are covered by a complicated system of tuberculi and ridges, forming a maze-system over their cells. These ridges, which are 0.4–0.7 μm high and 0.2–0.6 μm wide, constitute swellings of the cell membrane and form a pattern comparative to the ridge-system found on the skin of higher vertebrates. Epithelial prints of this type were investigated in 43 species of fresh water fish (Cichlidae, Characidae) and marine fish (Serranidae, Apogonidae, Sparidae, Scorpaenidae, Pomacentridae, Girellidae, Gobiidae) of America, Africa, and Asia. The ridge-prints were found to be species-specific, if observed over scales of the same body-site for all individuals. Our investigation, especially on species of the California rockfish (Sebastes), showed that within a given taxonomic group the structure of the ridges is in accordance with the taxonomic as well as ecological relationships of the species involved, usually being more developed in active swimmers and reduced or absent in sessile forms. This research demonstrated that the skin surface microstructures can be used for evolutionary-ecological studies.
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Fishelson, L. A comparative study of ridge-mazes on surface epithelial cell-membranes of fish scales (Pisces, Teleostei). Zoomorphology 104, 231–238 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00312036
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00312036