Micro-morphological characteristics of the oropharyngeal cavity floor of bogue (Boops boops) (Linnaeus, 1758) fish: gross morphology, light, and scanning electron microscopic imaging

Abstract

The current study is the first to use gross anatomy, light, and scanning electron microscopy to describe the oropharyngeal cavity of a bogue (Boops boops Linnaeus, 1758) fish. Fourteen 17–18 cm long bogue fish were used. The lower jaw held the lower lip, labial teeth, tongue, and pharyngeal teeth, and the oral cavity floor appeared u-shaped. The lower jaw was small and narrow in the anterior and wide in the posterior as it approached the esophagus. The lower lip carried different lengths of cilia-like projections that looked like the cactus plant arranged in transverse layers, and its apex appeared as an open rose. These cilia were encircled by ridges that looked like sea waves. The labial teeth were 15 in a row, with long roots placed beneath a pocket-like structure. Long, medium, and short pharyngeal papilliform teeth emerged on the oropharyngeal cavity floor at the level of the fourth gill arch in a small V-shaped arrangement. The tongue was smooth and small, with an apex, body, root, and lateral edges that were all clearly defined. The tongue’s apex was pointed and triangular, with a thin, transparent apical pouch around it. There was a median longitudinal fold on the dorsum of the tongue body and root. On the tongue surface, taste bud types I and II emerged. The bogue fish’s oropharyngeal cavity had unique anatomical characteristics, indicating that it was omnivorous.