Complex rheological behaviors of loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) skin mucus

Abstract

The functions and structures of biological mucus are closely linked to rheology. In this article, the skin mucus of loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) was proved to be a weak hydrogel susceptible to shear rate, time, and history, exhibiting: (i) Two-region breakdown of its gel structure during oscillatory strain sweep; (ii) rate-dependent thickening followed by three-region thinning with increased shear rate, and straight thinning with decreased shear rate; and (iii) time-dependent rheopexy at low shear rates, and thixotropy at high shear rates. An interesting correlation between the shear rate- and time-dependent rheological behaviors was also revealed, i.e., the rheopexy-thixotropy transition coincided with the first-second shear thinning region transition. Apart from rheology, a structure of colloidal network was observed in loach skin mucus using transmission electron microscopy. The complex rheology was speculated to result from inter- and intracolloid structural alterations. The unique rheology associated with the colloidal network structure, which has never been previously reported in vertebrate mucus, may play a key role in the functions (e.g., flow, reannealing, lubrication, and barrier) of the mucus.