Novel receptors for melatonin that mediate pigment dispersion are present in some melanophores of the pencil fish ( Nannostomus)

Abstract

1. Comparing the daytime and the night-time pigmentary patterns of the skin of the pencil fish, Nannostomus beckfordi, we noticed that specific regions of dark spots that were part of the night-time pattern became pale during the day. 2. Microscopic observations revealed that melanosomes in the melanophores in those regions were aggregated during the day but became dispersed at night. 3. These melanophores responded to melatonin by dispersal of melanosomes while the cells on other parts of the body responded to melatonin by aggregation of the pigment in the normal way. 4. The melanophores that responded to melatonin by pigment dispersion responded normally to other hormones and neurotransmitters, as did those on other parts of the skin. 5. The results indicate that, in addition to the known melatonin receptor that mediates the aggregation of melanosomes, there also exists an unusual receptor which mediates the dispersion of pigment in melanophores. We have tentatively designated this receptor the ‘beta-melatonin receptor’.