Date Thesis Awarded

5-2009

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Science (BS)

Department

Biology

Advisor

S. Laurie Sanderson

Committee Members

Gregory M. Capelli

Paul D. Heideman

James E. Perry

Abstract

American shad, Alosa sapidissima, is a species of anadromous suspension-feeding fish native to the east coast of North America. Past studies of the oral cavity of American shad have not taken into consideration both the microscopic and macroscopic morphology, and have focused on a specific region of the mouth. This study differs by providing an overview of the entire oral cavity, including all four gill arches, medial and lateral rakers, and the pre-esophageal tissue. Macroscopic examination and photography are coupled with scanning electron microscopy to develop a comprehensive understanding of oral cavity structure. Based on the structure of the filtration apparatus, hypotheses for filtration models such as crossflow filtration and dead-end sieving are evaluated. Suggestions for further study are proposed to explore questions raised regarding the functional morphology and the mechanisms of filtration in the American shad.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Comments

Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.

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