Morphology and histology of the anterior dorsal fin of Gaidropsarus mediterraneus (Pisces Teleostei), a specialized sensory organ

Kotrschal, Kurt; Whitear, Mary; Adam, Hans

doi:10.1007/bf00312187

Cited by 34 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The anatomical structure of the peculiar anterior dorsal fin of gaidropsarines has been described by several authors (e.g., Bateson 1890;Bogoljubsky 1908;Thomson 1912;Crisp et al 1975;Kotrschal et al 1984Kotrschal et al , 1985Kotrschal et al , 1993Peters et al 1987;Vandewalle et al 1987;Kotrschal & Finger 1996). The pseudospine bears a number of taste buds and the epidermis of the thin and short filamentous rays contains millions of solitary chemosensory cells.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The nervus recurrens facialis sends branches to the pectoral, pelvic and dorsal fins. The branches that innervate the first dorsal fin are joined by branches from the dorsal ramuli of spinale nerves and pass through the wall of the capsule of collagenous connective tissue that encloses the supporting elements of the fin and their associated muscles (Kotrschal et al 1985). Overall, the first dorsal fin of gaidropsarines constitutes specific sensory organ, a sort of water sampler, representing a unique novelty (in the sense of Hall & Kerney 2012) within the Teleostei.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each ray is moved by two pairs of muscles, the erectores and depressores. The lateral movements of the rays are allowed by the erectores muscles and maintain the fin in a constant undulation that draws sea water towards and through the fin rays and backwards as a slightly perceptible current (see Kotrschal et al 1984, Vandewalle et al 1987. According to Kotrschal et al (1985), the selective advantage acting during the evolution of this chemosensory organ was the ability to detect prey among the animals living on the area surrounding the fish in its living habitat.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This structure is extremely delicate and only occasionally has been documented in fossil remains (Carnevale 2007). The thin pterygiophores that support the short unsegmented rays that form most of the first dorsal fin and their associated musculature are unique in being surrounded by a firm capsule of myoseptal collagen (Kotrschal et al 1984) and are not membraneously connected to each other (Vandewalle et al 1987); the collagen capsule provides a sort of structural separation from the rest of the axial skeleton that likely favoured a rapid disarticulation during the early stages of decay after the death of the fish. Such tendency to a precocious disarticulation of the first dorsal fin during the early phases of the fossilization process apparently led to the misidentification of fossil rocklings, which, on the basis of the number of exposed dorsal fins, have been erroneously assigned to certain genera of the Lotinae, such as Brosme (see Kramberger-Gorjanovic 1884, Arambourg 1927, even though the fossil skeletal remains exhibit several osteological and meristic (e.g., fin and vertebral formulae) features clearly indicative of the Gaidropsarinae (see Carnevale 2007).…”

Section: B Amentioning

confidence: 99%

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Middle Miocene rockling (Teleostei, Gadidae) from the Paratethys (St. Margarethen in Burgenland, Austria)

Carnevale¹,

Harzhauser²

2013

Bull. Geosci.

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Fishes of the subfamily Gaidropsarinae, commonly known as rocklings, are anatomically unique within the family Gadidae (Teleostei, Gadiformes), mostly because of their possession of a highly specialized chemosensory and vibratile first dorsal fin. The genus Gaidropsarus contains 13 extant species occurring from subtropical to temperate waters in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean, South Africa, New Zealand, Tasmania, Japan and southeastern Pacific, plus a single fossil species from the Miocene of Algeria. A new species of rockling, Gaidropsarus pilleri sp. nov., is described from the Middle Miocene (Late Badenian) corallinacean limestone of St. Margarethen in Burgenland, Eisenstadt-Sopron Basin, Austria based on seven articulated skeletons. The new species is based on a unique combination of features, including: possession of a wide neurocranium (neurocranial width contained less than two times in its length); well-developed sphenotic spine; epibranchials 2 and 3 characterized by massive uncinate processes; presence of 44 (13 + 31) vertebrae; five posterior parapophyses enlarged, the posterior three wing-like; 2 nd dorsal fin contains about 50 rays; anal fin with 43 rays; caudal peduncle very short (2.4% SL). Gaidropsarus pilleri sp. nov. is the earliest known occurrence of the rocklings based on skeletal remains. The vibratile and chemosensory first dorsal fin of gaidropsarines may have arisen by co-option of the first dorsal-fin module.•

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Amentioning

confidence: 99%

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Middle Miocene rockling (Teleostei, Gadidae) from the Paratethys (St. Margarethen in Burgenland, Austria)

Carnevale¹,

Harzhauser²

2013

Bull. Geosci.

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“…Rocklings, a group of gadid teleosts, are characterized by a vibratile fin ray, the anterior dorsal fin. This fin ray is covered with millions of solitary chemoreceptive cells (Kotrschal et al, 1984), which are sensitive to compounds in heterospecific fish mucous (Kotrschal et al, 1993a). These cells are primarily innervated by facial fibers and project to a specialized region of the facial lobe Whitear and Kotrschal, 1988;Kotrschal et al, 1993b).…”

Section: Conclusion Are Schreiner Organs Taste Buds?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Schreiner organs: A new craniate chemosensory modality in hagfishes

Braun

1998

J. Comp. Neurol.

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An extensive system of sensory organs resembling taste buds was previously known in the skin of hagfishes. These sensory organs, called here Schreiner organs, are found throughout the epidermis of both Eptatretus stoutii and Myxine glutinosa. They are found also at high densities in the prenasal sinus, nasopharyngeal duct, and pharynx, and at lower densities in the oral and velar chambers. Schreiner organs are multicellular aggregates composed of acetylated tubulin-immunoreactive receptor cells and nonimmunoreactive cells. A considerable range of variation was found in Schreiner organ morphology, but discrete classes of organs could not be recognized. Schreiner organs are innervated by all sensory trigeminal rami, the glossopharyngeal/vagal nerve, and cutaneous rami of spinal nerves, but not by the facial nerve. The central projections of these rami form a continuous tract in the trigeminal sensory zone and the dorsolateral funiculus of the spinal cord. Some Schreiner organs may be represented in the nucleus of the solitary tract, but this structure is certainly not the primary recipient zone of Schreiner organ afferents. In light of these systemic differences between vertebrate taste systems and the Schreiner organ system of hagfishes, it is concluded that Schreiner organs are not homologous to taste buds. This sensory modality of hagfishes has no direct homolog in vertebrates and appears to be a specialization of hagfishes, perhaps derived from the primitive somatosensory system of the earliest craniates.

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Secondary connections of the dorsal and ventral facial lobes in a teleost fish, the rockling (Ciliata mustela)

Kotrschal

Finger

1996

J. Comp. Neurol.

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In the rockling, Ciliata mustela (Teleostei), a portion of the dorsal fin is a specialized chemosensory organ possessing solitary chemoreceptor cells innervated by a recurrent branch of the facial nerve. Previous studies have demonstrated that the specialized solitary chemoreceptor cell system is represented in the dorsal segment of the medullary facial lobe (DFL), whereas the taste buds in the remainder of the facial-nerve-innervated skin are represented in the ventral division of the lobe (VFL). The carbocyanine dye DiI was used to investigate the secondary and higher order brain connections of these two distinct subdivisions of the facial lobe. Both segments of the facial lobe sent fibers into the contralateral DFL via a dorsocaudal facial commissure and to the contralateral vagal lobes and VFL via fibers arching ventrally through the reticular formation. Ascending fibers from both facial lobe segments were traced into the secondary gustatory nucleus and into the lateral superficial facial nucleus, a small area in the dorsolateral brainstem laterally adjacent to the nucleus medialis of the octavolateral complex. Additionally, the VFL had reciprocal connections with a newly described nucleus adjacent to the incoming facial nerve root. Both DFL and VFL had descending fibers reaching two portions of the funicular nuclear complex, although the VFL contribution to this area is far more extensive than the DFL input. Thus, substantial overlap exists in the connections of the two facial subsystems; i.e., the solitary chemoreceptor information is not processed in nuclei distinct from those making up the usual gustatory lemniscus.

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Morphology and histology of the anterior dorsal fin of Gaidropsarus mediterraneus (Pisces Teleostei), a specialized sensory organ

Cited by 34 publications

References 14 publications

Middle Miocene rockling (Teleostei, Gadidae) from the Paratethys (St. Margarethen in Burgenland, Austria)

Middle Miocene rockling (Teleostei, Gadidae) from the Paratethys (St. Margarethen in Burgenland, Austria)

Schreiner organs: A new craniate chemosensory modality in hagfishes

Secondary connections of the dorsal and ventral facial lobes in a teleost fish, the rockling (Ciliata mustela)

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