 Phylogeny of the Fish Integument

• the skin of most living fishes is non-keratinized and covered instead by mucus
• The “teeth” lining the oral disk of lampreys, the jaw coverings of some herbivorous minnows, and
the friction surface on the belly skin of some semi-terrestrial fish are all keratinized derivatives.
• in most living fishes, the epidermis is alive and active on the body surface, and there is no
prominent keratinized cells
• Surface cells are often patterned with tiny microridges that perhaps hold the surface layer of
mucus.
• mucous cuticle
• Mucous coat that resists penetration of the integument by infectious bacteria
• probably contributes to laminar flow of water across the surface
• makes the fish slippery to predators
• often includes chemicals that are repugnant, alarming, or toxic to enemies
• Two types of cells occur within the epidermis of fishes:
• epidermal cells
• specialized unicellular glands
• Unicellular glands are single, specialized, and interspersed among the epidermal cell
population.
• club cell is an elongate, sometimes binucleate, unicellular gland
• granular cell is a diverse cell found in the skin of lampreys and other fishes
• goblet cell is absent in lamprey skin but is usually found in other bony and cartilaginous
fishes
• sacciform cell that holds a large, membrane-bound secretory product that seems to function
as a repellent or toxin against enemies
• Collagen within the stratum compactum is regularly organized into plies that spiral around the
body of the fish, allowing the skin to bend without wrinklinag.
• In some fishes, the dermis has elastic properties.
• The dermis often gives rise to dermal bone, and dermal bone gives rise to dermal scales.
• The surface of fish scales is sometimes coated with a hard, acellular enamel of epidermal
origin and a deeper dentin layer of dermal origin
• Enamel was thought to give way phylogenetically to “ganoin” and dentin to “cosmine.”