Morphological Descriptions of the Esophagus of the Sea Bream (Sparus aurata, Linneaus 1758)

Abstract

The current work prepared to describe the microscopic morphological appearance of the esophagus of the gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). The esophageal wall was organized into four tunica; mucosa, submucosa, muscularis and serosa. There are many goblets cells in the esophageal epithelium. The tunica muscularis is very thick and consisting of; an outer circular thick layer and an inner longitudinal layer of striated muscle. The presences of the many goblet cells help in the esophageal lubrication and protection. By the histochemical reactions with Alcian blue and PAS staining, the esopgaster secretory epithelium devoid from any goblet cells. There are many mucous droplets of the high electron density and the low electron density between surface epithelial cells within the goblet cells. The obtained results of the current investigation may help to understanding the physiology of the esophageal digestive functions in Sparus aurata.