Relation of mitochondria‐rich chloride cells to active chloride transport in the skin of a marine teleost

Abstract

Mitochondria-rich cells in the skin of the marine teleost, Gillichthys mirabilis, were found to be ultrastructurally similar to typical chloride-secreting cells of marine fish gill, but had a tall, spindlelike shape due to the thickness of the stratified epithelium. The fluorophore, dimethylaminostyrylethylpyridiniumiodide (DASPEI), was used to visualize and count skin chloride cells so that cell density could be regressed against the in vitro short-circuit current (I_SC) measured on the same tissue. The regression (r² = 0.76; n = 72) demonstrated that chloride cells are responsible for anion transport across Grillichthys skin.