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Physiology Of A Basal Vertebrate, The Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus): Osmoregulation And Corticosteroid Action, Ciaran A. S. Shaughnessy

Doctoral Dissertations

Lamprey represent the most basal living example of a vertebrate animal which regulates its internal fluid and ion homeostasis. This phylogenetic position among vertebrates makes lamprey an important model organism for understanding the basal state, and thus the evolution, of physiological systems such as the mechanisms of osmo- and ionoregulation and the endocrine factors controlling them. Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) are an anadromous fish, migrating from freshwater (FW) to seawater (SW) as juveniles, then returning back upstream as mature adults to spawn. Surviving this transition from a solute-poor FW environment to a solute-concentrated SW environment requires many changes …