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The Biology of Hagfishes pp 512–532Cite as

Cutaneous Exteroreceptors and their Innervation in Hagfishes

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Summary

Earlier portrayals of hagfish biology and behaviour are inconsistent with emerging evidence of hagfish sensory capabilities and ecology. Hagfishes may be characterized as chemosensory specialists, perhaps actively preying on invertebrates in the benthic and endobenthic habitat. Two sensory systems are examined in detail: the lateral line system and a chemoreceptive system which is unique to hagfishes. The lateral line system is composed of a small number of sensory patches with a simpler organization than the neuromasts of vertebrate lateral line systems. The simplicity of eptatretid lateral line systems is argued to be derived via regressive evolution in relation to burrowing habits. Potentially primitive features of the lateral line system of hagfish may be limited to the morphology of the receptor cells themselves. This simplicity and apparently paltry sensory capability is contrasted with an elaborate cutaneous chemosensory system: the Schreiner organ system. Schreiner organs are compound organs of sensory and support cells whose cytology resembles similar cell types in vertebrate taste buds. Schreiner organs are distributed quite densely on the tentacles, snout, prenasal sinus and nasopharyngeal duct, and at more modest densities in the pharynx and the epidermis of the head, trunk and tail. Schreiner organs are innervated by branches of the trigeminal, vagal and spinal nerves. This advanced sensory system rivals the most elaborate gustatory systems of vertebrates (e.g. siluriform teleosts) and is interpreted as a convergent adaptation to a dark and turbid habitat. Analysis of both the lateral line and Schreiner organ systems indicates that the sensory world of hagfishes is far richer than previously assumed.

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Authors
  1. Christopher B. Braun
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  2. R. Glenn Northcutt
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Braun, C.B., Northcutt, R.G. (1998). Cutaneous Exteroreceptors and their Innervation in Hagfishes. In: The Biology of Hagfishes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5834-3_32

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5834-3_32

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