CYTOLOGICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL ONTOGENY AND INVOLUTION OF THE THYMUS IN CICHLID FISHES (CICHLIDAE, TELEOSTEI)

The ontogenesis and involution of thymus in cichlid fishes was studied with the aim of comparing development in the bottom-spawning species Tilapia zillii and T. tholloni, and in the mouth-brooding species Oreochromis auratus, O. niloticus, O. mossambicus, and Sarotherodon galilaeus. For comparison, data are also given on bottom-spawning Cichlasoma spp. from America and mouth-brooding Pseudotropheus auratus and Aulonocara nyassae from Africa. Developmental changes were followed histologically by means of light and electron microscopy of sections, beginning with embryos 24 h after fertilization, up to 14-year-old specimens of O. auratus. In all these fish, the anlagen of the thymus glands begins from the third and fourth gill pouches, and their development shows a high correlation with the pace of general organogenesis, which differs greatly in the bottom-spawning and mouth-brooding cichlids. In juveniles of bottom-spawners of 20-40 mm total length and in mouth-brooders of 40-60 mm total length, three cell types are present in the thymus: thymocytes, with large, dense nuclei; epitheliocytes, with long cell extensions containing bundles of tonofibrils; and reticulocytes, with short, granulated cell extensions. Hassall's corpuscles start to develop in larvae of T. zillii at 20-35 mm total length, and in specimens of 40 mm and more total length the corpuscles are typical, formed by inner and outer rings of epitheliocytes. At 30-45 mm total length, cell debris starts to accumulate in the interior of the corpuscles as an early sign of regression. As involution continues, macrophages accummulate within and around the Hassall's corpuscles. The epitheliocyte rings are eventually completely broken down. Isles of thymocytes persist in tilapias from the age of 1-14 years, but most of the thymus volume is occupied by blood lacunae and pigmented macrophage aggregations. The morphology is similar in the mouth-brooding species Pseudotropheus beginning at 1.5 years of age. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.