title: [Morphological and histological comparison of the digestive tract of Gambusia puncticulata and Girardinus metallicus, fishes used in the biological control of mosquitoes].
abstract: The morphology and histology of the digestive tract of Gambusia puncticulata and Girardinus metallicus fishes used in the biological control of mosquito larvae in Cuba, were described and compared. They were related to the food habits of each species. Gambusia puncticulata has a short and thick intestine, which is characteristic of the carnivorous species, whereas Girardinus metallicus has an elongate and thin spiral rolled up intestine as it corresponds to the omnivorous fishes. It was observed that the histological pattern of the intestine in both species is very simple; however, Gambusia puncticulata presented a great number of ramified microhairiness on comparing it with Girardinus metallicus, which increases this way the digestive yield of its relatively shorter digestive tract.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Medicina Tropical Pedro Kouri, Apartado 601, Marianao 13, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba. jinnay@ipk.sld.edu
authors.forename: Jinnay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rodríguez Rodríguez
authors.forename: Efrain
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: Natividad
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hernández Contreras
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Capó
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: García
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003532:Cyprinodontiformes / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D007422:Intestines / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D010572:Pest Control, Biological