Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nr4z6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-04T08:21:14.925Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Comparative crystallography of vertebrate otoconia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

Elmer A. Rosauer*
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Iowa State university, Ames, Iowa 50011.
James R. Redmond
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Iowa State university, Ames, Iowa 50011.
*
Professor Elmer A. Rosauer, Materials Science and Engineering Department, Iowa State University, 110 Engineering Annex, Ames, Iowa 50011, U.S.A.

Abstract

Otoconial material was obtained from a number of vertebrates to determine the CaC03 polymorph present. Otoconia and otoliths from bony fish, amphibians, and reptiles are primarily aragonitic; those from birds and mammals are calcitic. This paper summarizes data from all other investigators as well as presenting new data, particularly pertaining to reptiles. The significance, if any, of the relationship between taxonomic group and carbonate polymorph remains an intriguing question.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Bathurst, R. G. C. (1971) Carbonate Sediments and their Diagenesis. Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
2.Brandenberger, E. and Schintz, H. F. (1946) Uber die Natur der Verkalkung bei Mensch und Tier und das Verhalten der organischen Knochensubstanz im Falle der hauptsächlichen menschlichen Krankheiten. Helvetica Medica Acta, Supplement XVI, 163.Google Scholar
3.Brooks, R., Clark, L. M. and Thurston, E. F. (1950) Calcium carbonate and its hydrates. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A: 243: 145167.Google Scholar
4.Carlström, D. (1963) A crystallographic study of vertebrate otoliths. Biological Bulletin, 125: 441463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Carlström, D. and Engström, H. (1955) The ultrastructure of statoconia. Acta Oto-Laryngologica, 45: 1418.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Carlström, D., Engström, H. and Hjorth, S. (1953) Electron microscopic and x-ray diffraction studies of statoconia. Laryngoscope, 63: 10521057.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Chave, K. E. (1954) Aspects of the biochemistry of magnesium. I. Calcareous marine organisms. Journal of Geology, 62: 266283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Degens, E. T., Deuser, W. G. and Haedrich, R. L. (1969) Molecular structure and composition of fish otoliths. Marine Biology, 2: 105113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Duedall, I. and Buckley, D. (1971) Calcium carbonate monohydrate in seawater. Nature, 234: 3940.Google Scholar
10.Francis, E. B. T. (1934) The Anatomy of the Salamander. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
11.Funaoka, S. and Toyota, S. (1928) Untersuchung über die transmikroskopische Struktur des Lebewesens. Folia Anatomica Japonica, 6: 323325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Fyfe, W. S. and Bischoff, J. L. (1965) The calcite-aragonite problem. Dolomitization and Limestone Diagenesis (ed. Pray, L. C. and Murray, R. C.), 313 (Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Spec. Pub. No. 13. Tulsa).Google Scholar
13.Hastings, A. B. (1935) Chemical analysis of otoliths and endolymphatic sac deposits in Amblystoma tigrinum. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 61: 295296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Heffner, J. D. (1976) Precipitation of Metastable Aragonite from Aqueous Solution, Ph.D. Dissertation (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia).Google Scholar
15.Herzog, H. (1925) Über die EntstehungderOtolithen. Zeitschrift für Hals, Nasen, und Ohrenheilkunde, 12: 413416. This is the only observation in the literature indicating aragonitic otoconia in birds. Unambiguous differentiation between calcific and aragonitic otoconia in the light microscope is difficult due to small crystal size.Google Scholar
16.Hull, H. and Turnbull, A. G. (1973) A thermochemical study of monohydrocalcite. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 37: 685694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Iurato, S. and de Petris, S. (1967) Otolithic membranes and cupulae. Submicroscopic Structure of the Inner Ear (ed. Iurato, S.), 210218. Pergamon Press, London.Google Scholar
18.Kamiya, K., Sakka, S. and Terada, K. (1977) Aragonite formation through precipitation of calcium carbonate monohydrate. Materials Research Bulletin, 12: 10951102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Kinsman, D. J. J. and Holland, H. D. (1969) The co-precipitation of cations with CaCO3—IV. The co-precipitation of Sr2+ with aragonite between 16° and 96°C. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 33: 117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20.Kitano, Y. (1962) The behaviór of various inorganic ions in the separation of calcium carbonate from a bicarbonate solution. Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan, 35: 19731985.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Kitano, Y. (1979) Carbonate sediments. Recent Progress of Natural Sciences in Japan, 4: 1118.Google Scholar
22.Kitano, Y. and Hood, D. W. (1965) The influence of organic material on the polymorphic crystallization of calcium carbonate. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 29: 2941.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Kitano, Y., Kanamori, N. and Yoshioka, S. (1974) Influence of chemical species on the crystal type of calcium carbonate. The Mechanisms of Mineralization in the Invertebrates and Plants (ed. Watabe, N. and Wilbur, K.), 191202. The Belle W. Baruch Library in marine science; no. 5, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia.Google Scholar
24.Kitano, Y., Okumura, M. and Idogaki, M. (1975) Incorporation of sodium, chloride and sulfate with calcium carbonate. Geochemical Journal, 9: 7584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25.Kitano, Y., Park, K. and Hood, D. W. (1962) Pure aragonite synthesis. Journal of Geophysical Research, 67: 48734874.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26.Krauss, F. and Schriever, W. (1930) Die Hydrate des Calcium-carbonats. Zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine Chemie, 188: 259273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27.Lippmann, F. (1973) Sedimentary Carbonate Minerals. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28.Lippmann, F. (1959) Darstellung und kristallographische Daten von CaCO3.H2. Die Naturwissenschaften, 19: 553554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29.Lowenstam, H. A. (1980) Bioinorganic constituents of hard parts. Biogeochemistry of Amino Acids (ed. Hare, P. E., Haering, T. C. and King, K.), 316. J. Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
30.Lowenstam, H. A. and Fitch, J. E. (1978) Morphology, mineral diversity and ontogenetic changes in extant elasmobranch otoconia. Geological Society of America, Cordilleran Section, Abstracts with programs, 10: 114.Google Scholar
31.McCauley, J. W. and Roy, R. (1974) Controlled nucleation and crystal growth of various CaCO3 phases by the silica gel technique. American Mineralogist, 59: 947963.Google Scholar
32.Marland, G. (1975) Phase equilibria in the system calcium carbonate—water. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 39: 11931197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33.Marschner, H. (1969) Hydrocalcite (CaCO3.H2O) and nesquehonite (Mgco3.H2O) in carbonate scales. Science, 165: 11191121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
34.Morris, R. W. and Kittleman, L. R. (1967) Piezoelectric property of otoliths. Science, 158: 368370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
35.Reser, M. K. (1975) ed., Phase Diagrams for Ceramists. The American Ceramic Society. Columbus, Ohio.Google Scholar
36.Ross, M. D. and Peacor, D. R. (1975) The nature and crystal growth of otoconia in the rat. Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, 84: 2236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
37.Ross, M. D., Johnsson, L.-G., Peacor, D. and Allard, L. F. (1976) Observations on normal and degenerating human otoconia. Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, 85: 310326.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
38.Sasaki, V. H. and Miyata, J. (1955) Experimented Studien tiber Otolithen. Zeitschrift für Laryngologie, Rhinologie, und Otologie, 34: 740748.Google Scholar
39.Towe, K. M. and Malone, P. G. (1970) Precipitation of metastable carbonate phases from seawater. Nature,. 226: 348349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
40.Turnbull, A. (1973) A thermochemical study of vaterite. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 73: 15931601.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
41.van Tassel, R. (1962) Carbonatneiderschlage aus gemischten Calcium—Magnesiumchloridlösungen. Zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine Chemie, 319: 107112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
42.Vilstrup, T. (1951) On the formation of otoliths. Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, 60: 974981.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
43.Wever, E. R. (1978) The Reptile Ear. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar