• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.12-21
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• 1990

When a piece of the dorsal skin(cat fish) was observed under a light microscope, melanophores were horizontally expanded and had a few processes filled with melanosomes. They were isolated from one another. Some melanophores looked black, while others were d&k brown. On observation with a transmission electron microscope, the epidermal melanophore of cat fish was highly branched and small segments of processes were found frequendy m the vidnity of the interecellular spaces. The cross section of the processes of melanophore was almost circular, and often invested by a thin layer of epidermal cells. Some processes, however, occurred free m the wide interecellular spaces or at the cytoplasm of the superilcial layers. In the mature melanophore, the cell organelles including melanosomes, mitochondria and free ribosomes were prominent in the perinuclear portions. Many melanosomes were spherical or elipsoidal in shape. Each melanosomes was surrounded by a limiting membrane. The processes of the mature melanophore were well developed, but the processes of the immature melanophores were incompletely developed.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.133-144
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• 1981

The ultrastructures of the pigment cells in the Asiatic land salamander (Hynobius leechi) dorsal skin were obtained by means of electron microscope. The results were as follows; 1. The pigment cells of the epidermis consisted of the melanocytes in the germinal layer and of the melanophores distributing to the keratinocyte layer. The traits of these cells in the epidermis were as follows: A. The nuclei of the melanocytes were round or oval in shape and appeared as partly small or large infoldings of the nuclear envelope. B. Rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulums and Golgi complexes were well developed in infranuclear cytoplasm. Many ribosomes were mainly distributed around the perinuclear portion. C. The melanosomes of the melanocytes were observed as a found or an oval shape and strong electron-dense or less electron-dense melanosomes were observed. D. The infoldings of the nuclear envelope in the melanophore were partly found deeper than those of the melanocyte. The cytoplasm of the melanophore filled with melanosomes caused organelles not to be observed in that. 2. The pigment cells in the dermis were composed of the xanthophores just beneath basement membrane and the melanophores in the connective tissue. The traits of these cells in the dermis were as follows: A. The xanthophores contained round or oval vesicles, and these vesicles were divided into 6 types (type I pterinosome, type II pterinosome, type III pterinosomes, type iv pterinosome, type V pterinosome, type VI pterinosome). B. Most of the nuclei of the melanophores in the dermis were elongate in shape, and a portion of the nuclear envelope was deep infolded. C. Becuase the cytoplasm was filled with the melanosomes of the same electron-density, organelles were not observed in the cytoplasm. D. Two processes of the melanophore in the dermis extended in parallel with a xanthophore and the cytoplasm in those processes were filled with the melanosomes.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.231-240
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• 1984

The authors observed pigment cells in the dorsal skin of Korean frog (Rana nigromaculata coreana Okada) under an electron microscope. The traits of pigment cells were as follows. The three kinds of dermal chromatophores were horizontally expanded; adjacent closely contiguous and partially overlapped with one another and there were the intercellular space between a xanthophore and an iridophore, or an iridophore and a melanophore. 1. Xanthophores: Xanthophores were filled with pterinosomes and carotenoid vesicles, the formers of which were evenly distributed in each cell. Pterinosomes were five kinds of types (type I, type II, type III, type IV and type V pterinosomes). Especially typical type II and type III pterinosomes were well observed in the cytoplasm. 2. Iridophores: Xanthophores were closely contiguous to the xanthophore situated above and they were filled with reflective platelets. Mostly these platelets are arranged regularly, that is, in parallel with the surface of skin, but partly, nonparallel. 3. Melanophores: Melanophores were filled with melanin granules, each of which revealed the same electron density. The pocesses of melanophore entended to bilateral sides of iridophores and melanin granules were dispersed especially in the processes.