Finfish Breeding and Hatchery Management

Unit 3 - Breeding of major carps

3.3. Fish Pituitary gland

• Pituitary gland is an endocrine (ductless) gland situated on the ventral side of the brain.
• It is a small, soft, whitish body whose size and shape vary with species.
• It is more or less round in carps; oval in catla and rohu and pear-shaped in mrigal.
• The pituitary is located in a concave cavity known as Sella turcica and enclosed by a thin membrane known as duramater.
• It may be attached to the brain by a short stalk called the Infundibular stalk.
  

Types of pituitary glands

Based on the presence or absence of the stalk, the pituitary is classified into

• Leptobasic pituitary (with stalk)– eg. Carps and catfishes
• Platybasic pituitary (without stalk)– eg. Murrels and glassfish (Ambasis species)

The teleost pituitary comprises of two parts-

• The glandular part (the adenohypophysis)
• The nervous part (the neurohypophysis)