Purines in the Integument of the Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) During Parr–Smolt Transformation

Abstract

During the parr–smolt transformation in Atlantic salmon, silvery materials were found beneath the scales (scale layer) and deep in the dermis adjacent to the muscle (skin layer). Both layers were thicker in smolts than in parr and both layers contained guanine and lesser amounts of hypoxanthine.Changes in levels of guanine, hypoxanthine, and the ratio between them (G/H) were measured from late December to late May on 2-year-old parr held in the laboratory under natural photoperiods and at temperatures varying from 6.0 in December to 9.5 C in late May. The change from parr to silvery parr during February and March accompanied sharp increases in guanine, hypoxanthine, and G/H values in the skin layer with less marked increases in the scale layer. The change from silvery parr to smolts during April and May accompanied sharp increases in guanine, hypoxanthine, and G/H values in the scale layer but no change occurred in the trend already established in the skin layer.Parr held all winter under stream conditions and examined in early April possessed purine levels and G/H ratios in the skin and scale layers comparable to those in laboratory fish during the previous December.Silvery parr captured migrating seaward in early June had purine levels and G/H ratios in the scale layer similar to those in laboratory smolts in late May but skin guanine values were much lower and the G/H ratio in the skin was extremely low.