Comparative characteristics of the ultrastructure of nephron cells in some species of pelagic, epibenthic, and demersal fish (the Karantinnaya Bay, the Black Sea)

• Main Authors: E. A. Flerova, G. M. Chuyko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: A. O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS 2021-06-01
• Series: Морской биологический журнал
• Subjects: teleost fish; pelagic fish; epibenthic fish; demersal fish; kidney; nephron
• Online Access: https://mbj.marine-research.org/article/view/298

The ultrastructure of the main sections of the mesonephros nephron in Black Sea teleost fish is studied. The species investigated are as follows: pelagic Trachurus mediterraneus (Steindachner, 1868) and Chelon auratus (Risso, 1810); epibenthic Diplodus annularis (Linnaeus, 1758) and Spicara flexuosa Rafinesque, 1810; and demersal Scorpaena porcus Linnaeus, 1758, Gobius niger Linnaeus, 1758, and Mullus barbatus ponticus Essipov, 1927. It is shown that in Black Sea fish, which inhabit different depths and are under different conditions of environmental osmotic pressure, nephrons at the tissue level of organization have a single structure and form glomerular kidneys. Fish adaptability to the habitat at certain depths is primarily manifested in an increase in the number and size of mitochondria of all types of nephron epithelial cells. A decrease in the renal corpuscles area, the length of podocytes, and height of tubular epithelial cells, as well as the brush border length of type I proximal tubules is also recorded. Nephron cytological peculiarities of pelagic, epibenthic, and demersal fish characterize a high adaptive capacity of the mesonephros cellular structures.