Somatotrop, gonadotrop, and prolactin cells in the pars distalis of juvenile grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus): an immunocytochemical study

The grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) is an important aquaculture species which is grown in many areas of the world. Because the species is the focus of basic and applied endocrinological studies, it is important to establish whether antibodies raised against common carp hormones will recognize hormones of the grass carp. Immunocytochemistry at the light-microscopic level, using the avidin–biotin complex method, and at the electron-microsopic level, using the protein A – gold method, revealed that rabbit anticarp prolactin, growth hormone, and gonadotropin each reacted with one cell type in an appropriate location in the grass carp pituitary gland. The results of these immunocytochemical studies support the suitability of antibodies raised against common carp hormones in immunocytochemical studies on the grass carp, and, by implication, in radioimmunoassay studies.