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A procedure for obtaining erythrocytes from larval fish for cytological study and a description of larval blood of red hake, Urophycis chuss (Walbaum) and Atlantic mackerel, Scomber scombrus (Linnaeus)
Author(s) -
Perry D. M.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1987.tb05803.x
Subject(s) - scomber , biology , larva , mackerel , zoology , fishery , red blood cell , tuna , ichthyoplankton , fish <actinopterygii> , scombridae , gill , anatomy , ecology , biochemistry
A means of obtaining erythrocytes from larval fish and the blood of larvae of two fish species are described. Erythrocytes were obtained for cytological preparations from larvae of Urophycis chuss (Walbaum) and Scomber scombrus (Linnaeus) as small as 2.0 mm. Heart and gills were dissected from the larvae, stained, and flattened into a monolayer on a microscope slide. Mature erythrocytes were the only blood cell type observed in either heart or gill preparations, and these appeared to be the same as in the adult fish. Mature erythrocytes can be isolated from formalinfixed larvae, even as sorted from plankton, and prepared for cytological and cytogenetic study and for blood cell counts. Knowledge gained from the study of erythrocytes from larval teleosts can be important in assessing the normality and health of these early‐life stages of fish in either laboratory assays or field studies. The method described is applicable to other fish species, even after years of storage in formalin fixative.