Inter- and intraspecific variation in the distribution and number of pit organs (free neuromasts) of sharks and rays.

Abstract

The distribution of pit organs (free neuromasts) has previously been documented for several species of pelagic sharks, but is relatively poorly known for rays and bottom-dwelling (demersal) sharks. In the present study, the complete distribution of pit organs was mapped in the demersal sharks Heterodontus portusjacksoni, Orectolobus maculatus, Hemiscyllium ocellatum, Chiloscyllium punctatum, and Asymbolus analis, and the rays Rhinobatos typus, Aptychotrema rostrata, Trygonorrhina sp. A, Raja sp. A, and Myliobatis australis. All of these species had pit organs scattered over the dorsolateral surface. The sharks also had "mandibular" pit organs (and "umbilical" pit organs in C. punctatum and A. analis) on the ventral surface, while pit organs were sparse or absent on the ventral surface of rays. All of the species examined here, except for M. australis, also had a "spiracular" group of pit organs adjacent to the eye and/or spiracle. Spiracular pit organs were also recorded for the sawshark Pristiophorus sp. A and the skate Pavoraja nitida, although the remainder of pit organs were not mapped in these species. The distribution and number of pit organs varied both within and among species. Pit organ distribution was asymmetrical in each individual examined, but no particular trend towards left or right "handedness" was observed in any species. Although rays have been thought to have fewer pit organs than sharks in general, this was not the case in the present study. All of the species examined here had few pit organs compared to the pelagic sharks previously documented, but it is not clear whether this is due to ecological or phylogenetic causes.