Development of catfish lateral line organs: electroreceptors require innervation, although mechanoreceptors do not

In amphibians the lateral line sense organs, i.e., mechanoreceptors (neuromasts) and electroreceptors, develop autonomously from placodal tissue, with no need for innervating nerve fibers. The present study deals with the question whether or not the mechano- and the (ampullary) electroreceptors develop in the same manner in teleosts. On the tail of larval catfish, Silurus, the first mechano- and electroreceptors appear several days after hatching in two longitudinal rows, one along the outgrowing main branch of the lateral line nerve and one along its ventral branch. Prevention of outgrowth of both nerve branches by repeated nerve sectioning, before the receptors form, shows (1) that the mechanoreceptors can develop without innervation as in amphibians, and (2) that the electroreceptors do not develop without innervation, unlike amphibian electroreceptors. These results are discussed with regard to the placodal origin and the phylogeny of the two sense organs.