Comparative morphology of gill apparatus of common carp (<em>Cyprinus carpio</em>) and African catfish (<em>Clarias gariepinus</em>)

Abstract

Common carp and African catfish belong to the Cyprinidae (Cypriniformes) and Catfish (Siluriformes) orders, respectively. They are characterized by a different habitat, as a result of which the structure of the gill apparatus has a number of features [3]. The article describes the macroscopic and microscopic morphology of the gills of the represented fish species. Each of them had four complete pairs of gills, and the fifth was rudimentary without gill filaments. The gill rakers of carp tended to be short and widely spaced compared to the long and thin rakers of catfish. The gill filaments of the carp were longer than those of the African catfish, indicating a larger area of the gill surface in the former species. All gill regions, as seen from light microscopy, are covered with mucous epithelium.