Ontogenetic changes in the body structure of the Arctic fish Leptoclinus maculatus

Abstract

Histological studies of the ontogenetic changes in Arctic marine fishes are often fragmented and incomplete. Here we present a comprehensive histological ontogenetic analysis of the daubed shanny (Leptoclinus maculatus) from the Arctic, characterizing its development as it undergoes a series of changes in the organ and tissue organization, especially during the postlarvae transition from the pelagic to benthic lifestyle. The thyroid, heart, digestive tract, liver, gonads, blood, and the lipid sac of the postlarvae at different developmental stages (L1–L5) were studied for the first time. We found that L. maculatus has structural characteristics of marine fish developing in cold, high-oxygen polar waters. We conclude that the presence of the lipid sac and the absence of distinguishable red blood cells in pelagic postlarvae are unique features of the daubed shanny most likely linked to its successful growth and development in the Arctic environment.

The Morphological and Histological Developmental Study of the Gastrointestinal Tract of Peres Fish (Osteochilus kappenii) Larvae

“…Putra et al (2012) studied the development of morphology and digestive tract of tomato clownfish (Amphiprion frenatus) in a controlled environment. Other studies include Croaker croceine fish, Pseudosciaena crocea (Mai et al, 2005), humpback grouper, Cromileptes altiveles (Abol-Munafi et al, 2011), catfish, Mystus nemurus (El Hag et al, 2012), striped murrel, Channa striata (Paray et al, 2015), ontogeny and morphological development of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in Aceh Province, Indonesia (Ismarica et al, 2022), yellowtail tetra fish Astyanax lacustris (Characiformes: Characidae) (dos Santos et al, 2020), Schizothorax waltoni Regan and Percocypris retrodorslis (Xu et al, 2023), orchid dottyback fish, Pseudochromis fridmani (Chen et al, 2022), yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares larvae (Kwan et al, 2019), red sea bream, Pagrus major (Khoa et al, 2019), Black Amur bream, Megalobrama terminalis (Liu et al, 2020), Culter alburnus (Huang et al, 2021), Shi drum, Umbrina cirrosa (Karacaoğlan et al, 2023), Yellowfin seabream, Acanthopagrus latus, Houttuyn 1782 (Morshedi et al, 2021), and Arctic fish, Leptoclinus maculatus (Pekkoeva et al, 2023).…”