Meeting Abstract
P2.122 Wednesday, Jan. 5 Lateral line anatomy in deep-water benthic anglerfish, Chaunax suttkusi FARINA, SC*; SONG, J; Cornell University; Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History stacy.farina@gmail.com
The lateral line system of most osteichthyan fishes is comprised of neuromasts embedded in bony canals distributed throughout the head and trunk. While some bony fishes have neuromasts located both within canals and at the surface of the skin, it is relatively rare for fishes to have lateral line systems comprised entirely of superficial neuromasts. Anglerfishes (order Lophiiformes) are one such group in which no members are known to have enclosed lateral line canals, but instead they have neuromasts that are typically situated in shallow grooves. Members of the Chaunacidae family, which are close relatives of the ceratioid deep-sea anglerfishes, are deep-water benthic lophiiforms. They are covered in spiny modified scales and have conspicuous open lateral line canals. We examined the lateral line system in a common chaunacid species Chaunax suttkusi. We described the innervation of the lateral line organs and used scanning electron micrographs to examine neuromast morphology. We found the innervation to be nearly identical to that of Lophiomus setigerus, the only other lophiiform species on which lateral line innervation data has been published, suggesting the possibility that innervation is conserved within this order. Our SEM images revealed that C. suttkusi has at least two different types of superficial neuromasts. One type is large with many hair cells, and the neuromasts are positioned in the center of the grooves of the open canals. The second type is much smaller with fewer hair cells, and the neuromasts are located intermittently along the dorsal edges of the open canals. The former type is supported by modified scales with 3 or more large spines, while the latter is supported by scales with no spines. A potential third distinct neuromast type exists along the trunk, apart from the open canal, and is supported by modified scales with moderately sized spines.
