Endocrine cells in the gastrointestinal tract of a stomachless teleostean fish.

Endocrine cells in the gastrointestinal tract of the stomachless teleostean fish, Notemigonus crysoleucas, were studied using electron microscopy. Located between the absorptive cells of the intestinal epithelium, the enteroendocrine cells were very few in number. While some of the cells had their secretory granules located basally and a long narrow part extending toward the lumen, many appeared rounder and the plane of the section did not indicate that they extended to the lumen. Based upon size and shape of secretory granules, there appear to be several different types of cells: those with the smallest granules distributed throughout the intestine, those with intermediate sized granules more commonly found in the middle and distal segments and a few with large granules seen most often in the distal intestine.