Scanning Electron Microscopy of the Taste Bud of the Mudpuppy, Necturus Maculosus
The tongue of the mudpuppy, Necturus maculosus, appears smooth and without any papillae. Farbman and Yonkers (1971) reported that the tongue contains round elevations or eminences, each with a single, large taste bud. Furthermore, their light micrographs, made of sectioned tissue, showed that the tips of the buds are flush to the lingual surface. In contrast, the mammalian taste buds lie below the epithelium of the lingual papillae and contact the surface only by way of a narrow taste pore. We undertook SEM studies to confirm this morphology, one which would be advantageous for later neurophysiological studies involving the stimulation of individual taste buds and microelectrode recording from taste bud cells.Figure 1 shows two adjacent eminences from the mudpuppy's distal tongue. The taste bud shows as a surface irregularity, centered at the top of each mound. Their dimensions and general distribution correspond to those reported by Farbman and Yonkers.