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Specialized basophilic cells in the ventral lobe of the pituitary of the smooth dogfish, Mustelus canis
Author(s) -
Tewinkel Lois E.
Publication year - 1969
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/jmor.1051270405
Subject(s) - basophilic , biology , ovulation , endocrinology , ovary , perivitelline space , cytoplasm , anatomy , medicine , andrology , embryo , hormone , microbiology and biotechnology , oocyte , pathology , zona pellucida
The ventral lobe of the adenohypophysis of the smooth dogfish, Mustelus canis , a viviparous elasmobranch, has been found to possess distinctive cells identified as basophils on the basis of staining properties. At maximum size, such a cell consists of a distended vesicle containing PAS‐positive, AF‐negative material surrounded by a thin envelope of cytoplasm and an eccentric nucleus. In earlier stages of these cells, vesicles are small or absent and granules in the more abundant cytoplasms are AF or Alcian‐positive. Basophil numbers are high in pre‐ovulation and mid‐ovulation females, decrease markedly after the end of ovulation until embryos are about 1 cm long then increase greatly during August and September while embryos grow to 8 cm in length. Early high counts, if these basophils are gonadotropes, may be correlated with stimulation of the ovary and ovulation; reduced numbers suggest inhibition, possibly by ovarian hormones for a period, while subsequent increase may indicate indirect involvement in uterine conditions in this viviparous species. Conclusion are, admittedly, tentative as specimens were available during only a fraction of the ten month gestation period.