Barbels of the Larval and Adult African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus): Light, Scanning and Transmis- sion Electron Microscopy Investigation

Abstract

The present study describes the struc- ture of the barbels in larval and adult African catfish. The African catfish has four pairs of barbels. The two types of barbels appear in first-day larvae, without taste buds. The barbels of the third-day larvae had slight folding and their taste buds had few microvilli. In the fifth-day larvae, the taste buds were concave and their microvilli were condensed at the periphery and loose- ly arranged centrally. Taste buds of the seventh-day larvae appeared as volcano-like elevations with alternative arrangement. In the thirteenth-day larvae, taste buds were placed on the epidermal papillae and they pos- sessed large and small microvilli. The adult catfish barbels consisted of an epidermis, dermis and a central rod of cartilage. The flask-shaped taste buds were scattered among the epidermal cells. By SEM, the epithelial surface