Histochemical and morphological studies on a new type of acellular cartilage.

A new type of cartilage was found participating in a valve-like system inside the conus arteriosus of the fresh water sting ray, Potamotrygon sp.. This cartilage possesses no chondrocytes and its matrix is perforated by vascular channels that ramify dendritically forming canaliculi. The acellular cartilage does not possess perichondrium but, rather, it is attached to a basement membrane-like structure. The cartilaginous matrix contains collagen fibrils that strongly interact with the chondroitin sulfate of the ground substance. The histochemical and biochemical findings suggest that not all of the glycosaminoglycans present in the acellular cartilage are bound to protein cores to form proteoglycans.