The Tongue Dorsal Surface in Fish: A Comparison Among Three Farmed Species

Abstract

The oral cavity of vertebrates has a very important role in many functions strictly related to the food processing. Two species, sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax and seabream Sparus aurata, are mainly involved in the aquaculture industry in the mediterranean area; moreover, the white seabream Diplodus sargus sargus was recently chosen as the best candidate for the diversification of species of commercial interest. This investigation was carried out, using the standard procedures for light and scanning electron microscopy, to analyse the morphology of the tongue dorsal surface in order to show whether relationships are present between the tongue morphology and the nutritional choices of these species. In all the three investigated species, three different areas were observed on the dorsal lingual surface: an apex, a body and a root. In the sea bass D. labrax, numerous caninelike teeth, organized in pads, were present along the dorsal surface. The presence of numerous taste buds, scattered on the tongue, was shown. In the seabream S. aurata, the apical part of the tongue is inserted in a pouch with a characteristic medial ridge on the body surface. Numerous taste buds were scattered on the whole surface. In the white seabream D. sargus sargus, a pouch partially covering the apex was clearly observed. In the pouch, filiform-like and foliate-like papillae can be distinguished. The results show the important role of the fish tongue in the food ingestion process, demonstrating the interaction of food processing, taste and morphological characteristics.

Anatomical, histological and immunohistochemical study of the tongue in the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

“…Therefore, a well-developed taste is the prove that the rain- Previous observations on the tongue of several teleosts have shown the presence of a well-developed muscular component (Abbate et al, 2006(Abbate et al, ,2017(Abbate et al, ,2020a(Abbate et al, ,2020bAbbate, Guerrera, Montalbano, De Carlos, et al, 2012;Guerrera et al, 2015;Levanti et al, 2017), to food prehension. The presence of resorption channels in the F I G U R E 11 Light micrographs (Masson trichrome with aniline blue staining) of the tongue root: circular spaces, resorption channels from which bone tissue has been removed to be replaced by bone marrow, is showed, in the insert at higher magnification deeper layers of the root indicates an active process of bone remodelling.…”

“…Until the last decade, the fish tongue was mainly described as a simple thickening of the oral cavity pavement mucosa (Buddington & Kuz'mina, 2000). Several studies demonstrated in different teleosts the presence of a true tongue (Abbate et al, 2006(Abbate et al, ,2017(Abbate et al, ,2020a(Abbate et al, ,2020bAbbate, Guerrera, Montalbano, De Carlos, et al, 2012;Guerrera et al, 2015;Levanti et al, 2017;Yu et al, 2019). The morphological characteristics of the tongue in the rainbow trout match with that of other described teleost species; therefore, also in this fish of commercial interest an apex, a body and a root can be clearly showed, and these three distin- localized in all the tongue dorsal surface Abbate, Guerrera, Montalbano, De Carlos, et al, 2012;Guerrera et al, 2015), and in swordfish and Atlantic salmon, there was no evidence of them (Abbate et al, 2017(Abbate et al, ,2020a.…”

Morphology of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)tongue

“…/j.1439Embryologia, 35, 299-304. https://doi.org/10. -0264.2006x Abbate, F., Guerrera, M. C., Cavallaro, M., Montalbano, G., Germanà, A., & Levanti, M. (2017). LM and SEM study on the swordfish (Xiphias gladius) tongue.…”

“…It is well known that feeding in captivity should cause adaptation and modifications of the morphological characteristics of the oral cavity, especially of tongue and teeth. Morphological data, particularly on tongue of different species of fish, are present in literature (Abbate et al., 2006, 2017; Abbate, Guerrera, Montalbano, Ciriaco, & Germanà, 2012; Abbate, Guerrera, Montalbano, De Carlos, et al, 2012; Collar, O'Meara, Wainwright, & Near, 2009; Dos Santos, Arantes, Santiago, & Santos, 2015; El Bakary, 2014; Elgendy, Alsafy, & Tanekhy, 2016; Guerrera et al., 2015; Ikpegbu, Ibe, & Nlebedum, 2019; Levanti et al., 2017; Mahmoud, Essa, & Sayed, 2016; Montalbano et al, 2016; Price et al., 2010; Sadeghinezhad, Rahmati‐Holasoo, Fayyaz, & Zargar, 2015; Yashpal, Kumari, Mittal, & Mittal, 2009). Nevertheless, recent data regarding the tongue anatomy in upper vertebrates are significative and could be very important in comparative anatomy (Abbate et al., 2008, 2009, ; Emura, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c, 2017, 2018a, 2018b, 2018c, 2018d; Emura & Sugiyama, 2016; Erdogan & Alan, 2012; Erdoğan & Iwasaki, 2014; Erdoğan, Lima, & Pérez, 2016; Erdoğan & Sağsöz, 2018; Erdoğan, Villar Arias, & Pérez, 2016; Erdoğan, Villar, König, & Pérez, 2018; Herrel, Redding, Meyers, & Nishikawa, 2014; Jackowiak, Skieresz‐Szewczyk, Godynicki, Iwasaki, & Meyer, 2011; Jackowiak, Skieresz‐Szewczyk, Kwiecińsk, Trzcielińska‐Lorych, & Godynicki, 2010; Sadeghinezhad et al., 2015; Sadeghinezhad, Sheibani, Memarian, & Chiocchetti, 2017; Sadeghinezhad, Tootian, & Javadi, 2018; Skieresz‐Szewczyk, Cornillie, & Jackowiak, 2018; Skieresz‐Szewczyk & Jackowiak, 2016, 2017; Skieresz‐Szewczyk, Jackowiak, & Ratajczak, 2018, 2019).…”

The microstructure of buccal cavity and alimentary canal of Siganus rivulatus: Scanning electron microscope study

“…The shapes of mouth and oral cavitiesy of fishes are good clue to indicate what fish eat. Buccal or orophryngeal cavity shows structural adaptability and great plasticity for eating different food items (Abbate et al, ; Abbate, Guerrera, Montalbano, Ciriaco, & Germanà, ; Abbate, Guerrera, Montalbano, de Carlos, et al, ; Baaoom, ; El Bakary, ; El Bakary, ; Harabawy, Mekkawy, Mahmoud, Abdel‐Rahman, & Khidr, ; Horn, ; Kapoor & Khanna, ; Kapoor, Smit, & Verighina, ; Levanti et al, ). The alimentary canal morphology in fishes usually shows characteristic variations in relation to diet, habit of feeding, phylogeny, shape of body, and characters that show functional differentiation (Abaurrea, Nuñez, & Ostos, ; Anderson, ; Kapoor et al, ; Noaillac‐Depeyre & Gas, ).…”