Biomaterial Database

Ultrastructure of the extracutaneous pigment cells in the plaice (Pleuronectes platessa, L., Teleostei). 1978

J H Frese

The extracutaneous pigment cell system of the plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.) was examined by light and electron microscopy in selected regions, including two cutaneous regions for comparison. The extracutaneous pigmentation consists of guanocytes and melanocytes with differing distributions within the body. The eyeless side lacks melanocytes. The pigment cells are differentiated as very flat elements with long processes. They display an affinity for loose connective tissue at boundary layers such as the peritoneal epithelium, organ capsules or blood vessels, to which they are parallelly arranged at a very constant distance. In some locations guanocytes are intimately associated with melanocytes forming "reduced chromatophore units". Extracutaneous pigment cells are poor in mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, microfilaments, caveolae intracellulares, ribosomes and glycogen granules, all of which are more abundant in cutaneous pigment cells and pigment cells of the eye. In extracutaneous guanocytes the crystals are loosely arranged parallel to the cell surface, in cutaneous guanocytes perpendicular. Cells with rod-like vesicular cisternae are described as "guanoblasts". No single pigment cell was found exhibiting different types of pigment granules. The varying colors of extracutaneous pigmentation arise from varying combinations of guanocytes and melanocytes in addition to the color of the tissue itself.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008544	Melanocytes	Mammalian pigment cells that produce MELANINS, pigments found mainly in the EPIDERMIS, but also in the eyes and the hair, by a process called melanogenesis. Coloration can be altered by the number of melanocytes or the amount of pigment produced and stored in the organelles called MELANOSOMES. The large non-mammalian melanin-containing cells are called MELANOPHORES.	Melanocyte
D008854	Microscopy, Electron	Microscopy using an electron beam, instead of light, to visualize the sample, thereby allowing much greater magnification. The interactions of ELECTRONS with specimens are used to provide information about the fine structure of that specimen. In TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY the reactions of the electrons that are transmitted through the specimen are imaged. In SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY an electron beam falls at a non-normal angle on the specimen and the image is derived from the reactions occurring above the plane of the specimen.	Electron Microscopy
D009928	Organ Specificity	Characteristic restricted to a particular organ of the body, such as a cell type, metabolic response or expression of a particular protein or antigen.	Tissue Specificity,Organ Specificities,Specificities, Organ,Specificities, Tissue,Specificity, Organ,Specificity, Tissue,Tissue Specificities
D002856	Chromatophores	The large pigment cells of fish, amphibia, reptiles and many invertebrates which actively disperse and aggregate their pigment granules. These cells include MELANOPHORES, erythrophores, xanthophores, leucophores and iridiophores. (In algae, chromatophores refer to CHLOROPLASTS. In phototrophic bacteria chromatophores refer to membranous organelles (BACTERIAL CHROMATOPHORES).)	Chromatophore
D005260	Female		Females
D005399	Fishes	A group of cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates having gills, fins, a cartilaginous or bony endoskeleton, and elongated bodies covered with scales.
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D012867	Skin	The outer covering of the body that protects it from the environment. It is composed of the DERMIS and the EPIDERMIS.