ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC STUDY OF GENERAL BODY EPIDERMIS OF HOMALOPTERA BRUCEI FISH OF KUMAUN HIMALAYAN REGION

The hill-stream fishes are very well adapted to some specialized conditions of their life in the torrential environment where turbulent flow over rough substratum (rocks, boulders, cobbles and pebbles) of the stream is a feature, directly related to the degree of slope or gradient and elevation. The skin is composed of three distinctive layers; epidermis, dermis and hypodermis. The epidermal cells covering the skin surface possess microridges. The openings of mucous cells were visible among the junctions of the epithelial cells.