A morphological and cytochemical study of erythrocytes, thrombocytes and leukocytes in four freshwater teleosts

Abstract

Erythrocytes, thrombocytes and leukocytes morphology and cytochemical staining were studied in big head carp Aristichthys nobilis, oscar Astronotus ocellatus, traı´ra Hoplias malabaricus and lambari Astyanax bimaculatus. Reticulocytes contained a granular material similar to residual RNA following staining with brilliant cresyl blue. Neutrophils, lymphocytes and monocytes were morphologically similar in all the four species. Thrombocytes were present in all the four species and were predominantly fusiform, whereas eosinophils occurred only in A. ocellatus. Aristichthys nobilis contained a leukocyte with unstained granules following Romanowsky-type staining, which stained intensely with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS). Glycogen granules were present in thrombocytes, neutrophils and eosinophils but not in monocytes or lymphocytes. Peroxidase staining was observed in neutrophils of A. ocellatus, H. malabaricus and A. bimaculatus but not in A. nobilis. Monocytes of A. ocellatus, H. malabaricus and A. bimaculatus stained positively for non-specific esterase, whereas those of A. nobilis did not stain. Thrombocytes and leukocytes in all four species were negative for alkaline phosphatase. Neutrophils of A. ocellatus and H. malabaricus may be involved in respiratory burst and may play an important microbicidal role.

Hematological Importance of Pseudoeosinophilic Granulocytes in Acclimation of Common Carp (Cyprinus Carpio Linnaeus, 1758)

“…Interrenal chromaffin tissue produces a number of interleukins (IL3, IL3R, IL5) (25) colony stimulating factors and growth factors which stimulate the maturation and ejection of Pse in peripheral circulation. Previous studies on Tilapia and tench (22,26) showed that Pse and Ly were dominant cells (more than 65%) in the blood which is consistent with our research.…”

“…Adaptation mechanism in common carp, caused by higher water temperature, manifests mostly with an increased number of Pse and a decreased number of Ne, though a more detailed explanation of this phenomenon we have not found in the literature. Hematological adaptation of fish to thermal stress is specific for each fish species and there is no uniform hematological response to thermal stress, even among cyprinids, because some cyprinid fish lack Pse in circulation, while the other have large number of Pse, basophils or eosinophils which sheds a completely different light on their thermal adaptation (17,26).…”

Haematology and leucocyte enzyme cytochemistry of a threatened yellow catfish Horabagrus brachysoma (Gunther 1864)

“…A study on neutrophil and macrophage responses in rainbow trout (Afonso et al 1998) revealed that the macrophages of the respective species are peroxidase negative but esterase positive. Tavares-Dias (2006a) reported the presence of nonspecific esterase in the monocytes and peroxidase in the neutrophils of Astronotus ocellatus, A. nobilis, Hoplias malabaricus and Astynax bimacculatus.…”

The haematology of six species of native catfish from northern Australia

“…Since many of these histamine-induced morphological changes were similar to those observed in mammalian basophils and mast cells during histamine release, and basophils were absent in the peripheral blood of C. commersoni, it was suggested that PAS-GLs may be functionally equivalent to, or evolutionary precursors of, basophils or mast cells (Barber and Westermann 1978b;Tavares-Dias 2006a). However, both PAS-GLs and basophils were present in the peripheral blood of N. ater in this study, and the concurrent presence of metachromatic basophils and PAS-GLs has been reported in other teleost species, such as S. lima (Bianchi et al 2014).…”