The taste system in fishes and the effects of environmental variables

The adaptability of the taste system in fish has led to a large variety in taste bud morphology, abundance and distribution, as well as in taste physiology characteristics in closely related species with different modes of life and feeding ecology. However, the modifications evoked in the sense of taste, or gustation, particularly during ontogeny when fishes are subject to different environmental variables, remain poorly studied. This review paper focusses on current knowledge to show how plastic and resistant the taste system in fishes is to various external factors, linked to other sensory inputs and shifts in physiological state of individuals. Ambient water temperature is fundamental to many aspects of fish biology and taste preferences are stable to many substances, however, the taste-cell turnover rate strongly depends on water temperature. Taste preferences are stable within water salinity, which gives rise to the possibility that the taste system in anadromous and catadromous fishes will only change minimally after their migration to a new environment. Food-taste selectivity is linked to fish diet and to individual feeding experience as well as the motivation to feed evoked by attractive (water extracts of food) and repellent (alarm pheromone) odours. In contrast, starvation leads to loss of aversion to many deterrent substances, which explains the consumption by starving fishes of new objects, previously refused or just occasionally consumed. Food hardness can significantly modify the final feeding decision to swallow or to reject a grasped and highly palatable food item. Heavy metals, detergents, aromatic hydrocarbons and other water contaminants have the strongest and quickest negative effects on structure and function of taste system in fish and depress taste perception and ability of fishes to respond adequately to taste stimuli after short exposures. Owing to phenotypic plasticity, the taste system can proliferate and partially restore the ability of fishes to respond to food odour after a complete loss of olfaction. In general, the taste system, especially its functionality, is regarded as stable over the life of a fish despite any alteration in their environment and such resistance is vital for maintaining physiological homeostasis.

Chemical and visual control of feeding and escape behaviors in the channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus

Channel catfish, maintained individually in aquaria with dark substrate, responded to visual stimuli from above with escape behavior and to amino acid stimuli with feeding behavior. Feeding behavior was composed of a) appetitive patterns, such as barbel movements, orienting posture, and search swimming and b) consummatory patterns that included a halt in swimming, turning, snapping-biting, ingestion, mastication, and swallowing. The conditioning procedure, which consisted of 90 s presentations of a single amino acid followed by a food reward, influenced the duration and speed of the search swim. Swimming behavior was quantified by counting the number of turns greater than 90 degrees. Catfish turned 40-75 times to the conditioned stimuli, L-proline and L-arginine, but only 20-40 times to the nonconditioned stimuli. Olfaction rather than taste was involved in the conditioned response to L-proline because the highest possible contact concentration (3 x 10(-6) M) of L-proline within the stimulus eddies was at least 30 times lower than the estimated L-proline electrophysiological taste threshold (> 10(-4) M).

Somatotopical organization of the intermediate nucleus of the facial lobe in the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus

Neurons in the intermediate nucleus of the facial lobe (nIF) in the channel catfish that respond to tactile stimulation of oral and/or extra-oral epithelia are somatotopically arranged. Neurons in rostrodorsal portions of the nIF responded to tactile stimulation or deflection of the ipsilateral barbels, whereas neurons arranged in a dorsoventral direction in caudoventral regions of the nIF had receptive fields on the ipsilateral lips and the oral cavity, respectively. Suppression of neuronal activity in response to tactile stimulation of the external skin and/or the oral cavity was indicated for some units. Taste responses were not observed.

Lobule structure and somatotopic organization of the medullary facial lobe in the channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus

Correlation of the somatotopic organization of the facial lobe (FL), a primary medullary gustatory nucleus in the channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus, with its lobular substructure was investigated to examine a possible structural basis for the excellent ability of ictalurid catfishes to localize a food source in the environment. The FL in the channel catfish is composed of six longitudinal columns (i.e., lobules) extending rostrocaudally and differing from each other in their length and location within the lobe. Each lobule receives segregated input from discrete portions of the external body surface. The three more medial lobules in the FL receive input (from medial to lateral) from the medial mandibular barbel, the lateral mandibular barbel, and the maxillary barbel, respectively. The proximal-distal axis of each of the barbels is represented in a posteroanterior lobule axis. The largest lobule, the face-flank lobule, is located dorsolaterally in the FL, whereas the anteroposterior body axis is represented in the posteroanterior lobule axis. This indicates that the neural representation of the external body surface of the channel catfish faces caudally in the FL. The two shortest lobules, positioned ventral to the face-flank lobule, receive input from the nasal barbel and the pectoral fin, respectively. The rostrocaudal dimensions of each of the barbel lobules correlate well with the relative lengths of the barbels. Taste-sensitive portions within the three barbel lobules examined were generally confined to the dorsal region, whereas tactile responses were observed throughout the lobules.2+ primarily tactile, zone.

Forebrain connections of the gustatory system in ictalurid catfishes

Horseradish peroxidase tracing and extracellular electrophysiological recording techniques were employed to delineate prosencephalic connections of the gustatory system in ictalurid catfishes. The isthmic secondary gustatory nucleus projects rostrally to several areas of the ventral diencephalon including the nucleus lobobulbaris and the nucleus lateralis thalami. Injections of HRP in the vicinity of the nucleus lobobulbaris reveal an ascending projection to the telencephalon terminating in the area dorsalis pars medialis (Dm) and the medial region of area dorsalis pars centralis (Dc). Conversely, injections of HRP into the gustatory region of area dorsalis pars medialis label small neurons in the nucleus lobobulbaris. Gustatory neurons in the telencephalon send descending projections via the medial and lateral forebrain bundles to several nuclei in the anterior and ventroposterior diencephalon. The nucleus lateralis thalami, a diencephalic nucleus, receives ascending gustatory projections from the secondary gustatory nucleus but does not project to the telencephalon. Neurons in both the nucleus lateralis thalami and the telencephalic gustatory target exhibit multiple extraoral and oral receptive fields and complex responses to chemical (taste) and tactile stimulation.