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The Morphology of the Lorenzinian Ampullae of the Sturgeon Acipenser ruthenus (Pisces: Chondrostei)
Author(s) -
Jørgensen J. Morup
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
acta zoologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.414
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1463-6395
pISSN - 0001-7272
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-6395.1980.tb01294.x
Subject(s) - biology , sturgeon , electroreception , anatomy , sensory system , snout , acipenser , zoology , free nerve ending , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , neuroscience
Jørgensen, J. M. 1980. The morphology of the Lorenzinian ampullae of the sturgeon Acipenser ruthenus (Pisces: Chondrostei). (Zoological Laboratory, University of Aarhus, Denmark.) — Acta zool. (Stockh.) 61 (2): 87–92. The snout of a sturgeon, Acipenser ruthenus (Chondrostei, Osteichthyes) is provided with sensory pores. Light and electron microscopical examination of these reveals that the ampullary organs have a sensory epithelium very similar to what has been found in the Lorenzinian ampullae, which are electroreceptors previously examined at a fine structural level in elasmobranchs and the paddle‐fish, Polyodon spathula. The sensory cells are pear‐shaped with a very small apical part, in the centre of which there is a short cilium. Basally, the sensory cells make several contacts with button‐shaped nerve‐endings. The presumed synaptic area in the sensory cell is characterized by a presynaptic sheet surrounded by vesicles. Only one type of nerve ending, an afferent type, has been observed.