Compared morphological description of the pufferfishes digestive tract of the families Tetraodontidae and Diodontidae

• Grant number: 13/02777-2
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: May 01, 2013
• End date: June 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Anatomy
• Principal Investigator: Renata de Britto Mari
• Grantee: Renata de Britto Mari
• Host Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Fishes represent a group with great biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. Teleosts have shown considerable versatility food throughout development, even within the same species. The morphology of the digestive tract (DT) of the fishes concerns the ecology of their feeding habits, then determining its functionality. The fishes of the order Tetraodontiformes has two families, Tetraodontidae and Diodontidae, being represented by pufferfishes. These fish have the ability to expand the body cavity through ingestion of water or air in an attempt to protect itself from predation. Thus, in view of the evolutionary characteristics of the pufferfishes to adapt to the environment, this paper aims to describe and compare pufferfishes DT morphology of two families of the order Tetraodontiformes. For this purpose, will be used 20 adult specimens of Sphoeroides testudineus (Tetraodontidae) and 20 adult specimens of Chilomycterus spinosus spinosus (Diodontidae) from fishing in the coastal region of Santos. After collection, the fish will be fixed with aqueous formaldehyde 10%, and segments of DT will be identified, described, isolated and designed for the processing of light microscopy. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FAGUNDES, KAINA R. C.; ROTUNDO, MATHEUS M.; MARI, RENATA B.. Morphological and histochemical characterization of the digestive tract of the puffer fish Sphoeroides testudineus (Linnaeus 1758) (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae). Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, v. 88, n. 3, S, p. 1615-1624, NOV 2016. (13/02777-2, 12/17482-5)