In order to elucidate the details of the hypophysis of the puffer,
Fugu niphobles, histological and cytological studies were performed on specimens collected at rocky beaches and specimens kept experimentally in dilute sea water. This species is known well as a marine fish by having a peculiar spawning habit and ascending behavior toward the river. The neurohypophysial ramifications penetrate extensively into the entire adenohypophysis, especially into the pars distalis. The adenohypophysis is divisible into three portions: the rostral and proximal pars distalis, and pars intermedia. The rostral pars distalis consists mainly of three glandular cells. They are lead hematoxylin (PbH)-positive acidophil (A
1 cell), aldehyde fuchsin (AF)-positive and periodic acid Schiff (PAS) reaction-positive basophil (B
1 cell), and the small chromophobe (C cell) cells. The proximal pars distalis includes two cell types: the dorsally shifted orangenophil (A
2 cell) and more ventrally shifted, AF- and PAS-positive polyhedral cell (B
2 cell). There are two types of cells in the pars intermedia: they are larger, PbH-positive acidophil (I
1 cell) and smaller, weak PAS-positive chromophobe (I
2 cell) cells. Two other strange cell types are also encountered in the adenohypophysis of some of the senile individuals. The C cells of the fish kept in 1/6 dilute sea water exhibit a marked hypertrophy in comparison with those of the fish kept in normal sea water. Some of the A
1 cells are also activated by dilute salinity.
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