The erythrinid gill: correlations of structure, function, and metabolism
- 1 April 1978
- journal article
- Published by Canadian Science Publishing in Canadian Journal of Zoology
- Vol. 56 (4) , 814-819
- https://doi.org/10.1139/z78-113
Abstract
Gill cellular and metabolic organization were compared in two erythrinid Amazon fishes, Hoplias being a water breather, Hoplerythrinus, a facultative air breather. The gill of the water breather was larger and displayed a higher abundance of chloride cells. Enzymes selected to represent different metabolic functions, including glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, the Krebs cycle, hydrogen shuttling, and ammoniagenesis were found in significant activities in the gills of both species. The gills in the two species differed most in the levels of enzymes in oxidative metabolism, enzymes such as citrate synthase, aspartate aminotransferase, and glutamate dehydrogenase occurring in higher activities in Hoplias gill. The relative enzyme activities correlate well with the higher abundance of chloride cells in the Hoplias gill, and are presumably involved in the generation of energy for ion-pumping work of these mitochondria-rich cells. In both Hoplias and Hoplerythrinus the total activities of Na+/K+-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase in the gill greatly exceed total kidney activities, implying that in both species the gill is charged with a much larger fraction of overall ion regulation. These results contrast sharply with parallel studies of obligate water-breathing and obligate air-breathing osteoglossids.Keywords
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