Glycoproteins in the epithelium of lips and associated structures of a hill stream fish Garra lamta (Cyprinidae, Cypriniformes): a histochemical investigation.

A series of histochemical procedures were employed to localize and characterize glycoprotein (GP) classes elaborated in the epithelia of the upper and lower lips and associated structures, namely the rostral cap, the adhesive pad, the horny upper and lower jaw sheaths and the folds of skin between them, of a hill stream fish Garra lamta. The epithelia of the lips, the folds of skin and the major portions of the rostral cap and the adhesive pad are mucogenic. The epithelia of the horny jaw sheaths and parts of the rostral cap and the adhesive pad are keratinized. Based on the histochemical characterization of GPs, the cells involved in the secretions in the epithelia at the mucogenic regions of the rostral cap and the adhesive pad comprise the epithelial cells, the type A mucous cells and the club cells. In the lips and the folds of skin, in contrast, the club cells are absent and most mucous cells belong to the type B category. Type A mucous cells are few. GPs elaborated by cellular components of the mucogenic epithelia include GPs with oxidizable vicinal diols, GPs with O-sulphate esters, GPs with sialic acid residues without O-acyl substitution or with O-acyl substitution at C7, C8 or C9 and GPs with O-acyl sugars. The different types of cells show significant differences in the classes as well as in the concentrations of the GPs elaborated by them. GPs have also been identified in the subcorneal space between the unculi and the epithelial cells in the replacement layer in the epithelia at the keratinized regions. Elaboration of more than one type of GPs suggests a basis for functional discrimination in their role in the mucous secretions at the surface as an adaptation to the feeding ecology and the environment inhabited by the fish.