Morphological Changes in Epidermal Cells of Fish with Chronic Anosmia and Enucleation

Using scanning electron microscopy, the structure of the apical surface of epidermal cells in the head skin and epithelium in the oral cavity of the carp Cyprinus carpio specimens, intact and with chronic olfactory and visual deafferentiation, has been studied. It is shown that sensory-deprived fish differ from intact fish by significant changes in the morphology of the apical surface of epidermal cells. The regular ring-shaped pattern on the apical surface of cells is disturbed but complex patterns or lamellar protrusions of ring-shaped ridges appear. The location and orientation character, as well as the density of distribution and the pattern on the apical surface of even neighboring cells can be completely different. A high concentration of cells with the modified apical surface was found in sensory zones of taste and tactile reception. The changes are similar in epidermal cells of the head skin and epithelial cells of the oral cavity. The individual specificity of structural changes in epidermal cells was not found. The possible relationship between the changes in the apical surface of epidermal cells and activation of the skin reception system and other sensory systems is discussed.