Morphology of the accessory air‐breathing organs of the teleost, Clarias lazera (C. and V.)

Moussa, Tohamy A.

doi:10.1002/jmor.1050980105

Cited by 29 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Thus, in Siluriformes virtually every part of the body except the swimbladder is used for air breathing. In the walking catfish, Clarias , branched organs extend dorsally from the branchial chambers: in the closely related Heteropneustes the chambers are unbranched and penetrate deep into musculature, forming long sacs analogous to the lungs in the bichir, Polypterus (338, 464, 558, 559). In Cypriniformes (carp and relatives) the posterior chamber is O 2 secreting, whereas some Characiformes (e.g., the jejú, Hoplerythrinus ) developed the posterior chamber for gas exchange.…”

Section: Section 3 Air Breathing In Vertebrates: Transition From Watmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of Air Breathing: Oxygen Homeostasis and the Transitions from Water to Land and Sky

Hsia

Schmitz

Lambertz

et al. 2013

Comprehensive Physiology

278

147

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Life originated in anoxia, but many organisms came to depend upon oxygen for survival, independently evolving diverse respiratory systems for acquiring oxygen from the environment. Ambient oxygen tension (PO2) fluctuated through the ages in correlation with biodiversity and body size, enabling organisms to migrate from water to land and air and sometimes in the opposite direction. Habitat expansion compels the use of different gas exchangers, for example, skin, gills, tracheae, lungs, and their intermediate stages, that may coexist within the same species; coexistence may be temporally disjunct (e.g., larval gills vs. adult lungs) or simultaneous (e.g., skin, gills, and lungs in some salamanders). Disparate systems exhibit similar directions of adaptation: toward larger diffusion interfaces, thinner barriers, finer dynamic regulation, and reduced cost of breathing. Efficient respiratory gas exchange, coupled to downstream convective and diffusive resistances, comprise the “oxygen cascade”—step-down of PO2 that balances supply against toxicity. Here, we review the origin of oxygen homeostasis, a primal selection factor for all respiratory systems, which in turn function as gatekeepers of the cascade. Within an organism's lifespan, the respiratory apparatus adapts in various ways to upregulate oxygen uptake in hypoxia and restrict uptake in hyperoxia. In an evolutionary context, certain species also become adapted to environmental conditions or habitual organismic demands. We, therefore, survey the comparative anatomy and physiology of respiratory systems from invertebrates to vertebrates, water to air breathers, and terrestrial to aerial inhabitants. Through the evolutionary directions and variety of gas exchangers, their shared features and individual compromises may be appreciated.

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Section: Section 3 Air Breathing In Vertebrates: Transition From Watmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of Air Breathing: Oxygen Homeostasis and the Transitions from Water to Land and Sky

Hsia

Schmitz

Lambertz

et al. 2013

Comprehensive Physiology

278

147

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“…Size-dependent increases in GCE are frequent during the larval and early juvenile stages of fishes, because of the development of digestive enzymes (Kamler 1992;Kolkovski 2001). In H. longifilis, this size-dependent increase could also be accounted for by the shift from a purely aquatic respiration to an aerial respiration through the development of suprabranchial organs (transition at about 50 mg WM, as in the sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus; Moussa 1956). Aerial respiration is more efficient than aquatic respiration in extracting oxygen from the ambient medium, and this could also be part of the reason why GCE max in juvenile H. longifilis (0.75-0.80) was higher than in most other species documented to date (syntheses in Kamler 1992;Jobling 1994;Baras et al 2011;Baras 2013).…”

Section: Expmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do cannibalistic fish forage optimally? An experimental study of prey size preference, bioenergetics of cannibalism and their ontogenetic variations in the African catfishHeterobranchus longifilis

Baras¹,

Dugué²,

Legendre³

2014

Aquat. Living Resour.

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-This study relied on the day-by-day analysis of bioenergetics and prey size preference in isolated cannibals of the African catfish Heterobranchus longifilis (13-57 mm standard length, 3-500 mg dry body mass, n = 153) that were offered ad libitum conspecific prey of adequate sizes in small-sized (2-L) environments under controlled conditions (12L:12D, 30• C). In these conditions, cannibals of increasing body size selected preferentially prey of decreasing size relative to their own, and increasingly closer to the optimal prey size (producing the highest gross conversion efficiency). The role of experience in cannibalism was found of secondary importance relative to body size, both as regards food intake and prey size selectivity. These results indicate that in environments that minimize the escape capacities of their potential victims, as applies to most aquacultural contexts, fish exercising cannibalism tend to forage optimally, which has rarely been evidenced for piscivorous behaviour. The present study further highlights that H. longifilis possesses a very high capacity for growth, which originates from the combination of high food intake and very high conversion efficiency, and makes this species of utmost interest for aquaculturists wherever fast growth is desirable, but also extremely prone to cannibalism wherever feeding schedules are inadequate.

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“…The structure of the respiratory organs in the air-breathing fish has, for a long time, attracted scientific attention (Day, 1868;Dobson, 1874;Das, 1927;Hora, 1935;Moussa, 1956;Munshi 1961, I962u, b, 1 968;Saxena, 1962;Guha, Singh & Munshi, 1967;Munshi & Singh, 1968;Hughes & Munshi, 1968Hughes, Dube & Munshi, 1973;Hughes et al, 1974a, b;Hakim, Munshi & Hughes, 1978;Maina & Maloiy, 1985); the subject has been reviewed by Munshi (1976) and Hughes (1984~). Their physiology has been investigated by Moussa (1957), Johansen et al (1 968), , Abdel-Magid (1971), Graham (1983) and Graham & Baird (1984); the subject was reviewed by Johansen (1970) and Singh (1976). Most recently, the respiratory physiology of the African air-breathing catfish (Clurius mossumbicus) was investigated in our Laboratory by Johnston, Bernard & Maloiy (1983).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The morphology of the respiratory organs of the African air‐breathing catfish (Clarias mossambicus): A light, electron and scanning microscopic study, with morphometric observations

Maina

Maloiy

1986

Journal of Zoology

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The morphology of the gas exchange organs of the African air‐breathing catfish (Clarias mossambicus) (Peters) have been examined grossly, and by light, electron and scanning microscopes. The respiratory organs in Clarias comprise a gill system and accessory organs which include the labyrinthine organ and the suprabranchial chamber membrane. The similarity in the morphology of the marginal channels and the transverse capillaries (the terminal respiratory components) in the three respiratory organs suggested a strong developmental relationship between the gills and the accessory respiratory organs. Morphometric analysis of the respiratory organs revealed that the mean weight specific surface area of the gills (17.30 mm2/g) exceeded that of the labyrinthine organs (4.65 mm2/g) and the suprabranchial chamber membrane (7.79 mm2/g). However, due to the relatively thick water‐blood barrier, the mean harmonic mean thickness of the gills being 1.97 μm compared with a mean value of 0.30 μm in the accessory respiratory organs, the gills contribute only 15% of the total morphometric diffusing capacity of the respiratory organs, the labyrinthine organs contribute 50% and the suprabranchial chamber membrane 35%. The accessory respiratory organs thus contribute 85% of the overall diffusing capacity. This may explain why C. mossambicus is an obligate air‐breather, for the gills may not provide enough oxygen even in well‐aerated water.

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Morphology of the accessory air‐breathing organs of the teleost, Clarias lazera (C. and V.)

Cited by 29 publications

References 10 publications

Evolution of Air Breathing: Oxygen Homeostasis and the Transitions from Water to Land and Sky

Evolution of Air Breathing: Oxygen Homeostasis and the Transitions from Water to Land and Sky

Do cannibalistic fish forage optimally? An experimental study of prey size preference, bioenergetics of cannibalism and their ontogenetic variations in the African catfishHeterobranchus longifilis

The morphology of the respiratory organs of the African air‐breathing catfish (Clarias mossambicus): A light, electron and scanning microscopic study, with morphometric observations

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