Morphological changes in the esophageal epithelium of the eel, Anguilla japonica, during adaptation to seawater.

The esophageal epithelium of the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica, was studied by light and electron microscopy. In freshwater-adapted eels, longitudinal folds of the mucosal surface are simple in form and lined by a stratified epithelium composed of mucous cells, filament- and ribosome-rich cells. Mucous cells are numerous. The filament-rich cells form the outermost and the basal layers of the stratified epithelium and are scattered in the middle zone among the mucous cells. They are firmly bound to one another by many desmosomes and prominent interdigitations of plasma membrane. The distal free surface of the filament-rich cell has a fingerprint-like pattern of microridges. A small number of columnar cells occur at the apices of the folds. They are rich in mitochondria and their distal surfaces bear short microvilli. In seawater-adapted eels, irregularly meandering folds increase the surface area of the mucosa. The stratified epithelium is extensively replaced by a simple columnar epithelium free of mucous cells. The columnar cells resemble in many respects those found in freshwater-adapted eels. They are rich in mitochondria and their distal free surface were provided with short microvilli. However, prominent lateral intercellular spaces and elaborate interdigitations of cytoplasmic processes in the distal zone distinguish the former from the latter. Results are considered in connection with the changes in ion and water permeability of the epithelium after seawater adaptation.