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The larval attachment organ of the tropical gar Atractosteus tropicus Gill, 1863 (Lepisosteiformes: Lepisosteidae)
Author(s) -
Pinion Amanda K.,
Siegel Dustin S.,
Britz Ralf,
MartínezGarcía Rafael,
ÁlvarezGonzález Carlos A.,
Conway Kevin W.
Publication year - 2021
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/jfb.14733
Subject(s) - biology , hatching , larva , anatomy , vacuole , multicellular organism , zoology , microbiology and biotechnology , ecology , biochemistry , cell , cytoplasm
Larval attachment organs (LAOs) are unicellular or multicellular organs that allow larvae to adhere to a substrate before yolk‐sac absorption and the free‐swimming stage. This study documents the LAO of tropical gar, Atractosteus tropicus , using a combination of scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy. It is shown that the LAO of A. tropicus is a super‐organ surrounded by a wall and containing at its centre many smaller multicellular organ units, each comprised of attachment and support cells. Attachment cells are secretory and house large vacuoles filled with a glycoprotein. At hatching, the super‐organ is well developed and occupies almost the entire anteroventral surface of the head. During subsequent development, the smaller individual units begin to regress, until at 6 days post‐hatching the super‐organ and its individual units are no longer visible.