[go] otolith mineralization

[David Hill]

Hi Doug,

Yup. This is right. Accordong to an expert source here, they do not grow 
throughout life, but are simply maintained after birth. I think Jen has 
enough to sort this out now.

David


Doug howe wrote:
> 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
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>       
>>>>>
>>>>>     
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>   
>>>
>>>
>>
>>