Taste Receptors in the Oral Cavity of Juvenile Common Carp Cyprinus carpio and White Sea Сod Gadus morhua marisalbi

Abstract

A comparative study into morphological features of the intraoral gustatory apparatus in juveniles of the common carp Cyprinus carpio and White Sea cod Gadus morhua marisalbi of the same age has been performed using scanning electron microscopy. Juveniles of these two fish species have a similar system of distribution of taste receptors in the oral cavity into three interrelated parts. The interaction between these parts provides a complex multistep system for taste analysis of food items. Features of morphology of the taste receptor apparatus in the same sensory zones of the oral cavity in juvenile common carp and cod show the similarity of their adaptation to the same type of feeding both on planktonic and benthic organisms. Species-specific features have been revealed in the morphology of the sensory field of taste buds. Some structural differences in morphology of the same sensory zones in the oral cavity of juvenile common carp and cod have an adaptive orientation due to species specificity of taste testing processes.