Morphometric characteristics of red blood cells of Telestes metohiensis (Steindachner, 1901)

Abstract

The paper presents the morphometric characteristics of red blood cells of endemic fish species of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Telestes metohiensis (Steindachner, 1901) inhabiting the Vrijeka river in the Dabar field. A total of 30 fish were sampled during August, 2010. Morphological measurements included the following parameters: axes of the red blood cells and nuclei, the surface of the red blood cells and nuclei and the thickness of the red blood cells. Morphometric characteristics of the erythrocyte maturation stages (acidophilic and polychromatic erythroblasts) were also studied as well as their proportion in the peripheral blood. 100 mature forms were measured for each individual. The propotion of the immature forms was expressed per 1000 erythrocytes. Results showed that dimensions of the erythrocytes differed in systematic categories as well as fish types. Dimensions of mature erythrocytes and their maturation stages of the same species differed in shape and size of the nuclei. Proportion of the erythrocyte maturation stages was very low in comparison with the mature erythrocytes, indicating the optimal environmental conditions for the studied species.