Swaraj Kumar Sarkar, Shreya Jana and Subrata Kumar De
The age-specific macro- and micro-anatomical changes within the olfactory structure in two different age groups [young (total body length: 70mm to 150mm) and adults (total body length: 150mm to 200mm)] of Pseudapocryptes lanceolatus (Bloch and Schneider, 1801) has been examined under light microscope (LM). P. lanceolatus possess single olfactory lamella that connects anterior and posterior nares on the either side of the snout. The distance between nares (Y) and the length of olfactory lamella (Z) are significantly related in accordance with increasing total body length (X) (70mm to 150mm) of P. lanceolatus (calculated correlation coefficient rXY = 0.962 and rXZ = 0.962 respectively). In adults, the length of olfactory lamella and distance between the nares are remain constant and does not show any significant correlation with the changing total body length. The microanatomical study indicates continuous proliferation of basal cell within the olfactory neuroepithelium of both young and adults but differs in frequency of occurrence of degenerating sensory receptor cell within the olfactory neuroepithelial system. Thus, the constant proliferation of basal cell is the only factor which is responsible for enlarging the surface area of olfactory neuroepithelium (in young stage) as well as replacing degenerating sensory receptor cells in adult olfactory structure. This base line data might helps to explore details regarding age-related neurodegenerative disorders in higher vertebrates.
