Gill structure and morphometry of its respiratory components in the Baikalian golomyankas (Comephoridae; Cottoidei; Pisces)

✍ Scribed by Michal Jakubowski

• Book ID: 102654756
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 808 KB
• Volume: 228
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0362-2525
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4687(199604)228:1<19::aid-jmor2>3.0.co;2-k

✦ Synopsis

All four pairs of gill arches in Comephorus baicalensis and C. clybowskii (Comephoridae) are well developed. In contrast to other Baikalian cottoids (Cottidae, Abyssocottidae), the slit behind the fourth arch is well preserved and two hemibranchs are present on this arch in the golomyankas. These anatomical details are considered to contradict the opinion that Comephoridae may be derived from other Baikalian Cottoidei. The arches in golomyankas are elongated and equipped with very strong spinous gill-rakers. The external sides of the upper and lower jaws are covered with numerous spinelike denticles, the apices of which are bent toward the mouth cavity. The denticles and the spinous gill-rakers are considered to be a specific adaptation in sluggish golomyankas for precise grasping of zooplankton of different sizes, as well as fish larvae. Respiratory components of the gill apparatus in the golomyankas are reduced considerably because of short gill filaments and the sparce distribution of small respiratory lamella on them. The allometry for the relationships between gill respiratory surface area (GRSA) and body mass (Y = a Wb) in both golomyankas is biphasic: in juvenile immature C. baicalensis Yj = 199.013 W1.057 and in mature animals Ym = 322.354 W0.731. In C. dybowskii the values