... as pseudofeces. Previous studies showed that the transport of particles in both tracts is mediated by mucus. Consequently, we hypothesized that the nature and/or the quantity of mucosal proteins present in each tract is likely to be different. Using endoscopy-aided micro-sampling of mucus from each tract...

... that are ejected from the slime glands: mucus and threads. The threads are produced within specialized cells and packaged into intricately coiled bundles called skeins. Skeins are kept from unraveling via a protein adhesive that dissolves when the skeins are ejected from the slime glands. Previous work revealed...

... vigorous mixing with seawater as well as the presence of mucus, whereas skeins from Pacific hagfish tend to unravel spontaneously in seawater. Here, we explored the mechanisms that underlie these different unraveling modes, and focused on the molecules that make up the skein glue, a material that must...

.... These animals are able to sort and selectively ingest nutritious microalgae from dilute and composite mixtures of particulate matter. This aptitude was suggested to be mediated by interactions between carbohydrates associated with the surface of microalgae and C-type lectins present in mucus covering...

... Mucus Slime gland Hagfishes (Myxinidae) are benthic, marine craniates that are notable for their unique defense mechanism of rapidly releasing large amounts of slime exudate when threatened ( Janvier, 1996 ; Spitzer and Koch, 1998 ). The exudate combines with seawater to form slime...

... mucous cells, which swell and rupture in seawater to form a network of mucus strands, and intermediate filament-rich threads, which are produced within gland thread cells as tightly coiled bundles called skeins. A previous study showed that the unraveling of skeins from Atlantic hagfish ( Myxine...

... epidermal mucus for several weeks after hatching. This strategy has the potential to act as a method of contaminant transfer. In discus adults, both waterborne and dietary toxicants are sequestered and secreted into their epidermal mucus, the food on which fry depend. To determine whether parents could...

... during the early development period. The Amazonian cichlid Symphysodon spp. (discus fish) is unusual among fish species, in that both parents provide offspring with mucus secretions to feed from after hatching. This extensive provision of care, which can last up to a month, imposes a physiological demand...

... cytoskeletal biopolymers in hagfish (slime eel) mucus . J. Struct. Biol. 106 , 205 - 210 . Koch E. A. , Spitzer R. H. , Pithawalla R. B. , Downing S. W. ( 1991b ). Keratin-like components of gland thread cells modulate the properties of mucus from hagfish (Eptatretus stouti...

... the extracellular fluid surrounding the mucous cells in the gland. In the slime gland, the mucin vesicles are exposed only to the cytosol of the gland mucus cell, which is regulated by the plasma membrane. There is also the cytosol of the thread cells to consider, which is released when the plasma membrane...

... of the slime's fibrous component, and here we report the first mechanical properties of the mucin component and the slime as a whole. Our results suggest that hagfishes can produce remarkable quantities of the slime because it is almost three orders of magnitude more dilute than typical mucus secretions...

...J. M. Pawlicki; L. B. Pease; C. M. Pierce; T. P. Startz; Y. Zhang; A. M. Smith SUMMARY Several molluscs have been shown to alternate between a non-adhesive trail mucus and a similar gel that forms a strong glue. The major structural difference between the two secretions is the presence of specific...

... in a layer of dried mucus in open air in the laboratory. Despite decreases in rates of ammonia and urea excretion, the ammonia content in the muscle, liver, brain and gut of P. dolloi remained unchanged after 6 days of aestivation compared with the control fasted for 6 days. For specimens aestivated for 40...

..., transcellular route. X-ray microanalyses of mucocytes revealed that the concentration of S was high and did not vary between epithelial layers, while that of Ca increased in an inward gradient toward the skeleton. We suggest that throughout the day, secreted mucus behaves as a Donnan matrix at the oral ectoderm...

... ) of 933 nmol kg –1 h –1 , was described. This characterised the intestine as a low-affinity, high-capacity zinc absorption pathway. Physiological mechanisms appear to regulate zinc uptake. Intestinal mucus was one important regulatory locus, promoting zinc uptake at low concentrations yet buffering...

... ( Fig. 4 ). This result is surprising because in both cases the difference must be attributed to the mucus. Other molluscan mucuses are reported to contain at least 90 % water ( Denny, 1983 ). Our results suggest that mucus from the digitiform glands might be exceptional in containing less than...