[go] otolith mineralization

[Doug howe]

I seem to recall also that Humans' don't have otoliths in the same sense 
that fish do.  A fish otolith is a single large 'stone', while humans 
have numerous small otoconia in an "otolith organ" called the utricle.
-Doug

Jennifer Deegan (nee Clark) wrote:
> Hi David,
>
> This is the information contributed by Doug on the wiki:
>
> otolith mineralization (sensu Actinopterygii)
> otolith mineralization (sensu Tetrapoda)
>
> "I believe the initial introduction of the 'sensu Actinopterygii' term 
> was because fish otoliths continue to grow throughout the life of the 
> fish. It was my understanding that this was not true for tetrapods. If 
> this distinction doesn't hold water, then perhaps a merge could happen."
>
> I'm trying to track down the difference in timing of mineralization.
>
> Jen
>
>
>
>
>
> David Hill wrote:
>
>> Evelyn and Jen,
>>
>> It seems like there may be some confusion with the different sensu 
>> types here. Did we make the different fish and tetrapod terms to 
>> discriminate the timing of mineral deposition? How similar is the 
>> process of mineralization in fish and tetrapods?
>>
>>
>> David
>>
>>
>> camon at ebi.ac.uk wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Jen,
>>>
>>> I used to slice otoliths when I worked for the dept. of marine many 
>>> moons
>>> ago. You can read Otoliths like the rings of a tree to age fish. 
>>> They are
>>> used for growth determination and to determine fishing quotas.
>>>
>>> I'm no expert on their mineralization but I think it happens throughout
>>> their life.
>>>
>>> Evelyn
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>>> Jen,
>>>>
>>>> I think the initial mineralization only takes place once.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> David
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Jennifer Deegan (nee Clark) wrote:
>>>>   
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> Does anybody know if the otoliths of taxa under Tetrapoda continue to
>>>>> grow throughout the life of the organism? We need to figure this out
>>>>> in order to better define some of the old sensu terms.
>>>>>
>>>>> otolith mineralization (sensu Tetrapoda)
>>>>>
>>>>> def: The formation of otoconia by precipitation of specific crystal
>>>>> forms of calcium carbonate around an organic core of extracellular
>>>>> matrix proteins. Otoconia are small (~10 micron) dense extracellular
>>>>> particles present in the otolith end organs of the vertebrate inner
>>>>> ear. As in, but not restricted to, the tetrapods (Tetrapoda,
>>>>> ncbi_taxonomy_id:32523).
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>> Jen
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>       
>>>>
>>>>     
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>   
>>
>>
>
>