Rw. Gauldie et J. Xhie, ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPY OF THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE MATRIX AND MINERAL COMPONENTS OF THE OTOLITH OF HYPEROGLYPHE ANTARCTICA, Journal of morphology, 223(2), 1995, pp. 203-214
The sagittal otolith of Hyperoglyphe antarctica (Centrolophidae: Teleo
stei) has a prismatic structure in which the anti-sulcal growth axes o
f each prism consist of a series of nested cones each composed of a mi
neral layer followed by an organic matrix layer. Broken sections show
the mineral layers to be composed of stacks of crystals. Otolith matri
x that has been decalcified and air-dried, or critical-point-dried, re
tains a periodic structure of repeating high and low matrix density. A
t high magnifications, both broken whole crystal surfaces and decalcif
ied matrix surfaces have a granular structure. Chlorox-bleached whole
otoliths also show a granular crystalline structure. At higher magnifi
cations, the air-dried matrix showed a parallel fiber structure with s
imilar dimensions to keratin fibers. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.