Microscopic study of flipper skin vascularization of South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis, Zimmermann, 1783)

• Grant number: 06/05970-4
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2006
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2008
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal researcher: Francisco Javier Hernandez Blazquez
• Grantee: Rodrigo de Godoi da Silva
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The species Arctocephalus australis, also known as South American fur seals, is a sea mammal that is found in the Brazilian southern seashores. They do not have reproductive colonies in Brazilian territory, but they migrate in search of warmer regions for resting. These animals live in both aquatic and dry ground environment and thus developed some tegumentary adaptations to cope with both environments, especially those related with their epidermal and vascular systems. The pectoral fins especially appear to be structures involved in swimming, dry ground displacement and termorregulation. Our objective is to describe the microscopic aspect of the fins integument of this species, studying several regions of this member and evaluate the morphology and the proliferation index of the epidermis of their ventral and dorsal side. Fragments of several regions of the fins will be collected from fresh deceased animals, processed by histological techniques and observed under light microscope. The cell proliferation index will be evaluated by counting of the number of epidermal cell nuclei that express the Ki67, clone MIB-1 and PCNA antigens.

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)

DA SILVA, ANA PAULA; MACHADO, ALEX S. D.; LE BAS, ALFREDO E.; SILVA, RODRIGO G.; DOS ANJOS SILVA, ELIZANGELA; HERNANDEZ-BLAZQUEZ, FRANCISCO J. The skin structures and their role in the thermoregulation of the South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis). Anatomical Record-Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology, v. 303, n. 12 JAN 2020. Web of Science Citations: 0.