Morphological analysis of neuromasts in the European cave blind salamander Proteus anguinus

Človeška ribica ali močeril (Proteus anguinus) je neotenična jamska dvoživka, ki naseljuje podzemne vode Dinarskega krasa. Obe podvrsti močerila (P. a. anguinus in P. a. parkelj) sta na življenje v podzemlju dobro prilagojeni. Ključnega pomena so prilagoditve senzorične narave, ki omogočajo učinkovitejše življenje v temi in nadomeščajo izgubo vida pri troglomorfni podvrsti človeške ribice (P. a. anguinus). Za prostorsko orientacijo in za zaznavanje potencialnega plena v temnem jamskem okolju imajo pomembno vlogo mehanoreceptorni nevromasti bočne linije. Namen raziskave je bil analizirati in primerjati namestitev in število nevromastov na prečnih prerezih glave pri obeh podvrstah človeške ribice. Rezultati so pokazali, da je pri obeh podvrstah močerila največ nevromastov v predelu gobca in da je relativna gostota nevromastov večja pri troglomorfni podvrsti P.a.anguinus.Proteus or olm (Proteus anguinus) is a neotenic cave amphibian which lives in the underground waters of Dinaric Karst. Both subspecies of proteus (P. a. anguinus in P. a. parkelj) are very well adapted to the life in the underground. The adaptations of sensory nature are very important because they enable the animal effective life in the darkness and they compensate the loss of vision in troglomorphic subspecies P.a.anguinus. The mechanoreceptory neuromasts of lateral line have an important role for spatial orientation of the animal in the total darkness as well as for potential prey perception. The purpose of the research was to analyse and compare the position and number of neuromasts on the cross sections of head in both subspecies of proteus. The results showed that in both subspecies the neuromasts are the most numerous on the snout part of the head and that the relative density of neuromasts on the head is higher in the troglomorphic subspecies P.a.anguinus