The taste system in fishes and the effects of environmental variables

The adaptability of the taste system in fish has led to a large variety in taste bud morphology, abundance and distribution, as well as in taste physiology characteristics in closely related species with different modes of life and feeding ecology. However, the modifications evoked in the sense of taste, or gustation, particularly during ontogeny when fishes are subject to different environmental variables, remain poorly studied. This review paper focusses on current knowledge to show how plastic and resistant the taste system in fishes is to various external factors, linked to other sensory inputs and shifts in physiological state of individuals. Ambient water temperature is fundamental to many aspects of fish biology and taste preferences are stable to many substances, however, the taste-cell turnover rate strongly depends on water temperature. Taste preferences are stable within water salinity, which gives rise to the possibility that the taste system in anadromous and catadromous fishes will only change minimally after their migration to a new environment. Food-taste selectivity is linked to fish diet and to individual feeding experience as well as the motivation to feed evoked by attractive (water extracts of food) and repellent (alarm pheromone) odours. In contrast, starvation leads to loss of aversion to many deterrent substances, which explains the consumption by starving fishes of new objects, previously refused or just occasionally consumed. Food hardness can significantly modify the final feeding decision to swallow or to reject a grasped and highly palatable food item. Heavy metals, detergents, aromatic hydrocarbons and other water contaminants have the strongest and quickest negative effects on structure and function of taste system in fish and depress taste perception and ability of fishes to respond adequately to taste stimuli after short exposures. Owing to phenotypic plasticity, the taste system can proliferate and partially restore the ability of fishes to respond to food odour after a complete loss of olfaction. In general, the taste system, especially its functionality, is regarded as stable over the life of a fish despite any alteration in their environment and such resistance is vital for maintaining physiological homeostasis.