Morphological and biochemical analyses of otoliths of the ice‐fish Chionodraco hamatus confirm a common origin with red‐blooded species

Abstract

The morphology and composition of the three otoliths of the Antarctic ice-fish Chionodraco hamatus were studied by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The composition of the sagitta, lapillus and asteriscus protein matrices was also analysed by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, western blots and confocal laser scanning microscopy to reveal the presence of and to localize the calcium-binding proteins calmodulin, calbindin and S-100. Morphological results indicated that the otoliths in this ice-fish were similar to those of Trematomus bernacchii , a red-blooded Antarctic species [B. Avallone et al. (2003) J. Submicrosc. Cytol. Pathol. 35 , 69-76], but rather different from those of other teleosts. These two Antarctic species possessed a completely vateritic asteriscus, whereas their sagitta and lapillus were made mostly of aragonite. Parallel analysis of protein patterns in C. hamatus and T. bernacchii revealed that the sagitta significantly differed from the lapillus and asteriscus in both species. The sagitta did not contain the S-100 protein and showed calmodulin and calbindin located in discontinuous or incremental zones, respectively. These results demonstrate that the otoliths of C. hamatus and T. bernacchii share more resemblances than differences and support the idea of a common origin of these species.

In vivoandin vitroanalysis of starmaker activity in zebrafish otolith biomineralization

“…A comparison of lapillus and asteriscus otoliths indicates similarity in protein content ( Supplemental Table S2). Analogous results were previously reported for other fish species like Clupea harengus or Chionodraco hamatus (54,55). A report by Söllner et al (17) has shown that Stm is crucial for aragonite polymorph of zebrafish sagitta.…”

Mineralogical and geochemical study of carp otoliths from Baiyangdian Lake and Miyun Water Reservoir in China

“…Lapillus of B-22 is matched to vaterite pattern instead of aragonite pattern, while most peaks of sagitta are matched to aragonite pattern and a few peaks are matched to vaterite pattern, as shown in Figure 5. Previous studies have shown CaCO 3 polymorphs differences in these three kinds of otoliths (Degens et al, 1969;Gauldie, 1993;Motta et al, 2009;Li and Feng, 2007). Most authors proposed that lapillus and sagitta are composed of aragonite, whereas asteriscus consists of vaterite (Motta et al, 2009;Li and Feng, 2007).…”

“…Previous studies have shown CaCO 3 polymorphs differences in these three kinds of otoliths (Degens et al, 1969;Gauldie, 1993;Motta et al, 2009;Li and Feng, 2007). Most authors proposed that lapillus and sagitta are composed of aragonite, whereas asteriscus consists of vaterite (Motta et al, 2009;Li and Feng, 2007). However, the occurrence of vateritic lapillus and sigatta were also found in some fishes (Sweeting et al, 2004;Yang et al, 2007;Jessop, 2008), in which vateritic sagitta were found in cultured coho salmon and the authors supported that it was correlated with stress factors such as disease, poor water quality and temperature fluctuation (Sweeting et al, 2004).…”

“…Estimating age and daily-annual increments of teleost fishes (Secor et al, 1995;Allain and Lorance, 2000;Cailliet et al, 2001); (2). Mineral composition of lapillus, sagitta and asteriscus in different species (Degens et al, 1969;Gauldie, 1993;Motta et al, 2009); (3). Minor and trace *Corresponding author.…”

“…Aragonite is the most common crystal morph of calcium carbonate found in otoliths, calcite and vaterite have been reported in teleost otoliths as well (Degens et al, 1969;Morales-Nin, 1985;Strong et al, 1986;Gauldie and Nelson, 1990;Gauldie, 1986, Tomas, 2004Sweeting et al, 2004;Yang et al, 2007;Jessop et al, 2008). The abnormal otoliths were addressed because of the replacement polymorph in sagitta (Ma et al, 2008), and most lapillus and sagitta are composed of aragonite, whereas asteriscus consists of vaterite (Motta et al, 2009;Li and Feng, 2007). The occurrence of vateritic carbonate was reported not only in fish otoliths, but also in the shell of freshwater snail and cultured pearls recently (Spann et al, 2010;Ma and Lee, 2006).…”