Comparative morphological study of pituitary gland in cyprinid species

Abstract

Pituitary gland is an endocrine gland situated on the ventral side of the brain. It is a small, soft, whitish body. The comparative morphological study of pituitary gland in cyprinid species i.e. Cyprinus carpio communis Linnaeus, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes) and Tor putitora (Hamilton) revealed that the morphologically the shape, size of the gland varies in different species and also changes with the ages. The caudobasic type of infundibular stalk in Tor putitora and dorsobasic type in Cyprinus carpio and Ctenopharyngodon idlela is found. Further, the shape of pituitary gland varies interspecifically with body weight. Thus, it is concluded that these fishes attained maturity at different body weight and length and among these Cyprinus carpio get early maturity than Tor putitora and Ctenopharyngodon idella.