Abstract
The primary function of fish skin is to act as a barrier. It provides protection against physical damage and assists with the maintenance of homoeostasis by minimising exchange between the animal and the environment. However in some fish, the skin may play a more active physiological role. This is particularly true in species that inhabit specialised environmental niches (e.g. amphibious and air-breathing fish such as the lungfish), those with physiological characteristics that may subvert the need for the integument as a barrier (e.g. the osmoconforming hagfish), and/or fish with anatomical modifications of the epidermis (e.g. reduced epithelial thickness). Using examples from different fish groups (e.g. hagfishes, elasmobranchs and teleosts), the importance of fish skin as a transport epithelium for gases, ions, nitrogenous waste products, and nutrients was reviewed. The role of the skin in larval fish was also examined, with early life stages often utilising the skin as a surrogate gill, prior to the development of a functional branchial epithelium.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 877-891 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology |
| Volume | 183 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 1 2013 |
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Keywords
- Ammonia excretion
- Epidermis
- Gas exchange
- Integument
- Ionoregulation
- Nutrient absorption
- Skin
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Animal Science and Zoology
- Biochemistry
- Endocrinology
Cite this
The skin of fish as a transport epithelium : A review. / Glover, Chris N.; Bucking, Carol; Wood, Chris M.
In: Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology, Vol. 183, No. 7, 01.10.2013, p. 877-891.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The skin of fish as a transport epithelium
T2 - A review
AU - Glover, Chris N.
AU - Bucking, Carol
AU - Wood, Chris M.
PY - 2013/10/1
Y1 - 2013/10/1
N2 - The primary function of fish skin is to act as a barrier. It provides protection against physical damage and assists with the maintenance of homoeostasis by minimising exchange between the animal and the environment. However in some fish, the skin may play a more active physiological role. This is particularly true in species that inhabit specialised environmental niches (e.g. amphibious and air-breathing fish such as the lungfish), those with physiological characteristics that may subvert the need for the integument as a barrier (e.g. the osmoconforming hagfish), and/or fish with anatomical modifications of the epidermis (e.g. reduced epithelial thickness). Using examples from different fish groups (e.g. hagfishes, elasmobranchs and teleosts), the importance of fish skin as a transport epithelium for gases, ions, nitrogenous waste products, and nutrients was reviewed. The role of the skin in larval fish was also examined, with early life stages often utilising the skin as a surrogate gill, prior to the development of a functional branchial epithelium.
AB - The primary function of fish skin is to act as a barrier. It provides protection against physical damage and assists with the maintenance of homoeostasis by minimising exchange between the animal and the environment. However in some fish, the skin may play a more active physiological role. This is particularly true in species that inhabit specialised environmental niches (e.g. amphibious and air-breathing fish such as the lungfish), those with physiological characteristics that may subvert the need for the integument as a barrier (e.g. the osmoconforming hagfish), and/or fish with anatomical modifications of the epidermis (e.g. reduced epithelial thickness). Using examples from different fish groups (e.g. hagfishes, elasmobranchs and teleosts), the importance of fish skin as a transport epithelium for gases, ions, nitrogenous waste products, and nutrients was reviewed. The role of the skin in larval fish was also examined, with early life stages often utilising the skin as a surrogate gill, prior to the development of a functional branchial epithelium.
KW - Ammonia excretion
KW - Epidermis
KW - Gas exchange
KW - Integument
KW - Ionoregulation
KW - Nutrient absorption
KW - Skin
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84884520945&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00360-013-0761-4
DO - 10.1007/s00360-013-0761-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 23660826
AN - SCOPUS:84884520945
VL - 183
SP - 877
EP - 891
JO - Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology
JF - Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology
SN - 0174-1578
IS - 7
ER -