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Ontogeny of cranial musculature in Clarias gariepinus (Siluroidei: Clariidae): The adductor mandibulae complex
Author(s) -
Adriaens Dominique,
Verraes Walter
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of morphology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.652
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1097-4687
pISSN - 0362-2525
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4687(199609)229:3<255::aid-jmor2>3.0.co;2-y
Subject(s) - biology , anatomy , clarias gariepinus , barbel , ontogeny , myology , adductor muscles , catfish , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , genetics
The adductor mandibulae complex has been a subject of discussion and uncertainties due to a wide range of differentiations that have occurred in teleosts during evolution. In Siluroidei a specific modification of a part of the muscle complex has resulted in the formation of a retractor muscle of the maxillary barbel. The main part of the muscle complex, responsible for the closure of the mouth, has undergone some changes as well, which are at the base of the homology problems encountered by different authors. In this paper the muscles have been studied in three ontogenetic stages of the siluroid Clarias gariepinus (Clariidae); two of them have been described. Based on the ontogenetic evidence and the literature, the following muscles are recognized: 1) the very weakly differentiated adductor mandibulae A 2 A' 3 , where only little distinction can be made between the A 2 and the A' 3 muscle parts, and 2) the adductor mandibulae A“ 3 . Caudally, both muscles are separated from each other by the levator arcus palatini, but are fused together anteriorly, inserting onto the lower jaw. In juvenile C. gariepinus , a differentiation has occurred in the A” 3 muscle, thereby forming a distinct pars superficialis and a pars profunda. No A 1 nor an A ω muscle is present. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.