Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, 83523, Egypt.
Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, 35516, Egypt.
BMC Vet Res. 2023 Oct 24;19(1):221. doi: 10.1186/s12917-023-03784-0.
The starry puffer fish (Arothron stellatus, Anonymous, 1798) is a poisonous tetradontidae fish inhabiting the Red sea. The skin constitutes an important defense against any external effects. The study aims to characterize the dorso-ventral skin of the juvenile and the adult starry puffer fish using light and scanning electron microscopies. Twenty specimens of juvenile and adult fresh fishes were used.
The scanning electron microarchitecture of the skin of the juvenile and adult fish showed delicate irregular-shaped protrusions, and well-defined bricks-like elevations on the dorsal side and interrupted folds as well as irregular-shaped protrusions on the ventral side. In adult fish, the patterned microridges of the superficial and deep epithelial cells (keratinocytes) were larger and well-defined in the dorsal skin than in the ventral side, the contrary was seen in the juvenile fish. The microridges were arranged in a fingerprint or honeycomb patterns. The openings of the mucous cells were more numerous in the dorsal skin in both age stages but more noticeable in adult. Furthermore, the sensory cells were more dominant in the juveniles than the adults. The odontic spines were only seen in adult. Histologically, few taste buds were observed in the epidermis of the dorsal skin surface of the adult fish. Both mucous and club cells were embedded in the epidermis of the juvenile and adult fish with different shapes and sizes. Melanophores were observed at the dorsal skin of both juvenile and adult fishes while fewer numbers were noticed at the ventral surfaces. Several dermal bony plates with different shapes and sizes were demonstrated in the skin of both adult and juvenile fishes.
The structural variations of skin of the juvenile and adult fishes may reflect the various environmental difficulties that they confront.
星斑多纪鲀（Arothron stellatus，Anonymous，1798）是一种生活在红海的有毒四齿鲀科鱼类。其皮肤是重要的防御器官，能抵御各种外部影响。本研究旨在通过光镜和扫描电镜对幼年和成年星斑多纪鲀的背腹侧皮肤进行特征描述。使用了 20 个幼年和成年新鲜鱼类标本。
扫描电镜观察显示，幼年和成年鱼的皮肤背侧有精细的不规则形状突起和清晰的砖状隆起，腹侧有间断褶皱和不规则形状突起。成年鱼的背侧皮肤中，浅层和深层上皮细胞（角质细胞）的图案微嵴较大且比腹侧更为清晰，而幼年鱼则相反。微嵴呈指纹或蜂窝状排列。在两个年龄段的鱼中，背侧皮肤的黏液细胞开口都比腹侧多，但在成年鱼中更为明显。此外，幼年鱼的感觉细胞比成年鱼更为丰富。成年鱼只有牙质刺。组织学上，成年鱼背侧皮肤表皮中观察到少量味蕾。黏液细胞和棒状细胞嵌入在幼年和成年鱼的表皮中，形状和大小不同。在幼年和成年鱼的背侧皮肤都观察到黑色素细胞，而腹侧皮肤的黑色素细胞数量较少。在成年和幼年鱼的皮肤中都有不同形状和大小的几个真皮骨板。
幼年和成年鱼的皮肤结构变化可能反映了它们所面临的各种环境困难。
