title: Morphology of the epidermis of the neotropical catfish Pimelodella lateristriga (Lichtenstein, 1823) with emphasis in club cells.
abstract: The epidermis of Ostariophysi fish is composed of 4 main cell types: epidermal cells (or filament containing cells), mucous cells, granular cells and club cells. The morphological analysis of the epidermis of the catfish Pimelodella lateristriga revealed the presence of only two types of cells: epidermal and club cells. The latter were evident in the middle layer of the epidermis, being the largest cells within the epithelium. Few organelles were located in the perinuclear region, while the rest of the cytoplasm was filled with a non-vesicular fibrillar substance. Club cells contained two irregular nuclei with evident nucleoli and high compacted peripheral chromatin. Histochemical analysis detected prevalence of protein within the cytoplasm other than carbohydrates, which were absent. These characteristics are similar to those described to most Ostariophysi studied so far. On the other hand, the epidermal cells differ from what is found in the literature. The present study described three distinct types, as follows: superficial, abundant and dense cells. Differences among them were restricted to their cytoplasm and nucleus morphology. Mucous cells were found in all Ostariophysi studied so far, although they were absent in P. lateristriga, along with granular cells, also typical of other catfish epidermis. The preset study corroborates the observations on club cells' morphology in Siluriformes specimens, and shows important differences in epidermis composition and cell structure of P. lateristriga regarding the literature data.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Agrárias e Biológicas, Centro Universitário Norte do Espírito Santo, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, São Mateus, Espírito Santo, Brasil.
authors.forename: Eduardo Medeiros
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Damasceno
authors.forename: Juliana Castro
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Monteiro
authors.forename: Luiz Fernando
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Duboc
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dolder
authors.forename: Karina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mancini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002397:Catfishes / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004817:Epidermis / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D029941:Fish Proteins