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A GUIDE FOR THE DISSECTION OF THE DOGFISH

LAWRENCE E. GRIFFIN Professor of Biology in Reed College

THIRD EDITION

Portland, Oregon 1922

A Guide for the Dissection of the Dogfish

The small sharks which abound along the coasts of the United States are commonly called "dogfish" by fishermen and others. The "dogfish" of inland waters belongs to an entirely different group. Two species of sharks are caught in numbers and used in laboratory work, the "spiny dogfish" and the "smooth dogfish" . The first is easily distinguished by the sharp spine in front of each dorsal fin. Squalus acanthias is often referred to under the synonym Acanthias vulgaris, while Eugaleus galeus is more frequently named either Mustelus canis or Galeus canis. The histories of these names and systematic descriptions of the species are contained in Samuel Garman's Monograph on the Elasmobranchs.

Several sizes of dogfish are furnished by dealers. We consider it best to purchase large, fully developed specimens. The small specimens may be a little more convenient to handle, but the large ones have the important advantage of being sexually mature, while blood vessels and nerves are dissected better in large than in small specimens. Also, a number of structures are very different in mature animals from their condition in young ones. Dealers should be requested to furnish fish with fins and tails complete instead of trimmed. It is an advantage to issue to the class equal numbers of both sexes.

An entire specimen and an extra head may be required by each student for a thorough dissection. It would be better if the head were cut off just behind the pectoral fins, instead of in front of them as is usually done, so that the vagus and hypobranchial nerves may be dissected more completely.

The spiny dogfish, which is the particular subject of this guide, is the species most frequently supplied to laboratories. However, the spiny and smooth dogfishes are so much alike that the latter may be easily dissected with these directions. Where marked differences between the forms exist the structure of Eugaleus is described separately.

The student of anatomy should realize that dissection is for the purpose of enabling him to see for himself the structures which exist, and that no dissection is satisfactory until the anatomical arrangements mentioned in the text can be completely demonstrated in his specimen.

The importance of knowing the structure of the elasmobranch is so great in comparative anatomy and embryology that it is worth while to make a thorough dissection of one of this class. As the dogfish is frequently the first major vertebrate form to be studied in detail, these directions have been written to conform to the needs of the student who is beginning comparative anatomy. The arrangement of sections in this guide is intended to permit the omission of some which it may not be considered desirable to include in the work of a class.

EXTERNAL CHARACTERS

The spindle-shaped body tapers from near the middle toward both head and tail; the head is flattened on both the dorsal and ventral sides, while the remainder of the body is nearly round, with a lateral compression which is not pronounced except in the caudal portion.

The general color of the back and sides is gray; darkest above, where the skin is spotted with scattered, small, round, light spots. The color of the upper parts shades into the yellow white of the ventral surface.

Can head, trunk, and tail regions be distinguished? If so, what characters determine the extent of each?

The open groove does not appear in Eugaleus.

The cloaca of Eugaleus has a comparatively small opening upon the ventral surface, which must be enlarged before the parts described can be seen well.

In Eugaleus there is a fold of skin stretched across the lower part of the eye which serves as an eye-lid, and corresponds to the so-called "third eye-lid" or nictitating membrane of other vertebrates.

Between the spiracle and the first gill slit will be found a lateral group of similar organs. Notice the arrangement of their tubules and pores. Under the snout are two groups of ampullae on each side of the midline. The inner ventral group is separated from the outer ventral group by the lateral bar of the rostral cartilage. Some of the tubules of the outer ventral group will be found to extend to pores situated at the sides of and behind the mouth.

An adult fish possesses from 1200 to 1900 ampullae of Lorenzini. Their function is not well understood, but it has been suggested that they are organs responsive to stimuli of pressure, either of currents or water, or resulting from depth, or even of deep tones.

Except for a few small areas the entire surface of the body is covered with small, sharp-pointed denticles . Each consists of a diamond-shaped basal plate embedded in the dermis, from which projects a leaf-like, backward directed spine. A piece of skin should be removed and examined under a low magnification. The dermis is so dense and pigmented that the basal plate is not easily studied without further manipulation. For this purpose boil a piece of skin in 5% caustic potash solution until it is softened, but not till it disintegrates. Then clear it in glycerine. Examine the individual denticles under a higher magnification. The denticle consists of dentine, the spine being of a much denser structure than the base. The teeth and the large spines of the fins and claspers are also composed of dentine and may be considered as modified placoid scales. Denticles, teeth, and spines are covered with a shiny, enamel-like layer which, however, does not appear to be true enamel such as covers the teeth of higher vertebrates. The shape of the scales and their closeness vary on different regions of the body, and there are certain regions entirely free from them, namely, back of the dorsal, pectoral and pelvic fins, the medio-dorsal surfaces of the claspers, inside the upper lip and the labial pockets.

DISSECTION OF THE ABDOMINAL VISCERA

Place the dogfish on its back and, commencing at the middle of the abdomen, make an incision through the body wall a quarter of an inch to one side of the midline. Carry this forward to the pectoral girdle and backward through the pelvic girdle to the cloaca; not, however, cutting the wall of the cloaca.

Without dissecting, identify the following parts and observe their relations:

The spleen of Eugaleus is a long, slender body extending from the middle of the proximal limb of the stomach around the posterior end of that organ and forward again along the distal limb for two-thirds of the length of the latter.

The reproductive glands of Eugaleus are long bodies lying above the stomach and intestine. They are fused to each other for almost their entire length.

THE ALIMENTARY SYSTEM. In dissecting the following organs, care should be taken not to break the connections of the organs with each other or with other parts, or to cut blood vessels. Organs should not be removed until such procedure is directed.

The mouth and pharynx can be studied to better advantage later with the dissection of portions of the vascular system.

In Eugaleus the mesentery extends the entire length of the abdominal cavity. It forms a broad sheet attached to the anterior end of the proximal limb of the stomach , to the anterior end of the intestine , and to the rectum . There is not the reduction of the mesentery which there is in Squalus. The gonads are suspended from the lateral faces of the mesentery above the stomach and intestine. The gastro-hepatic omentum forms a broad sheet between the limbs of the stomach, joining the mesogaster dorsal to the stomach and the mesentery above the intestine.

In Eugaleus, which does not possess such a median lobe, the gall-bladder lies hidden in the right lobe of the liver. It can be opened and explored, but the connection with the duct can usually be demonstrated only by scraping. Do this later.

The bile duct passes along the dorsal side of the gall-bladder and the edge of the gastro-hepatic and duodeno-hepatic omenta to the junction of the duodenum and large intestine, where it opens into the alimentary canal. Trace its oblique course through the wall of the intestine. The bile duct and the collecting ducts of the liver will be traced in the liver at a later stage of the dissection.

Open the proximal limb of the stomach by a ventral incision which shall not cut any large blood vessels. Wash out the interior. Observe the three coats of the stomach; the outer peritoneal, the middle muscular, and the inner mucous coats. In the anterior portion of the stomach the mucous coat projects in the form of large papillae . Posterior to these, observe the irregular folding of the mucous coat, depending upon the degree of contraction of the muscular coat.

The muscular coat consists of an outer circular and an inner longitudinal layer of muscle fibres. Separate the two layers from each other and from the mucous coat; observe the network of blood vessels between the longitudinal muscles and the mucosa.

Open the pyloric end of the stomach, continuing the cut through the pylorus into the intestine. Examine the coats as before, observing especially that an outer layer of longitudinal muscle fibres is frequently developed, and that the pyloric valve is formed by an increase in the thickness of the coat of circular fibres.

Cut through the peritoneum along the outer side of one kidney. Then strip the peritoneum toward the inner border of the kidney. The urinary duct will usually be closely attached to the peritoneum and parallel with the Wolffian duct, but nearer the midline of the body. The urinary duct can be separated from the peritoneum by a little careful work. Numerous small ducts pass from the kidney into the urinary duct.

Cut open the seminal vesicle and part of the convoluted vas deferens. The space within is subdivided by transverse folds or lamellae extending from a longitudinal ridge.

No vasa efferentia can be distinguished in Eugaleus. The anterior extremities of the kidney and testis of each side come into close contact with each other and here the vasa efferentia pass from the testis to the vas deferens. The sperm-sac is a large blind pouch, one or two inches in length, leading out of the posterior end of the vas deferens, and directed forward along its side. The vas deferens of Eugaleus is not convoluted.

In the young specimens usually supplied to laboratories the vas deferens is straight and no seminal vesicle is developed. The vasa efferentia are more difficult to see; otherwise the relations of the urinary and genital organs are as in the adult.

The suspensory ligament of the liver is continued posteriorly along the midline of the ventral body wall; the dorsal edge supports a funnel which opens into the abdominal cavity by a long, narrow mouth. From the anterior end of the funnel two narrow tubes pass to the right and left over the anterior surface of the liver. They end blindly in the tissues dorsal to the anterior end of the liver. These are vestiges of the Muellerian ducts which form the oviducts of the females.

The ovaries of Eugaleus are long slender bodies lying on either side of the mesogaster, dorsal to the stomach and intestine. Their posterior portions are fused.

In young specimens the ovaries are small, and the oviducts are narrow, white tubes lying along the medial margins of the kidneys.

In the course of development two sets of nephridia are formed. The first develops just back of the head of the embryo, but does not persist in the adult. Its duct, known commonly as the Muellerian duct, develops into the functional oviduct of the female, but forms an apparently useless vestige in the male. The second kidney develops behind the first and is the excretory organ of the adult. Its duct is the urinary duct in the female, but functions in the male chiefly as a sperm duct, and therefore is called the vas deferens. The collecting tubules of the posterior portion of the kidney of the male unite to form a urinary duct which opens into the Wolffian duct or the uro-genital sinus.

RESPIRATORY ORGANS

Open similarly each pouch of the same side, observing the number of the demibranchs and their relation to the pouches.

VASCULAR SYSTEM

Footnote 1:

See footnote, p. 31.

Two pairs of arteries leave the ventral aorta as it emerges from the pericardial sac. The aorta then passes forward some distance and finally divides into two branches which pass to either side. Follow the branches of the aorta outward on the left side and demonstrate their courses. The anterior branch quickly divides into two, the anterior of these passing along the base of the first demibranch. The posterior enters the septum between the first and second pouches, and supplies the second and third demibranchs. The middle branch of the aorta passes directly to the fourth and fifth demibranchs. The posterior branch divides almost as it leaves the aorta, its branches supplying the remaining demibranchs. There is considerable variation in this branch of the aorta. It usually divides as stated, but it frequently passes some distance toward the gills before dividing, and in a considerable number of cases two vessels arise directly from the aorta instead of one.

Trace all veins by passing a flexible probe or guarded bristle along them and then opening the vein with the probe as a guide. All smaller vessels emptying into those described should be noted.

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