Gustatory responses in Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis (Temminck and Schlegel)

Gustatory neural responses of the Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis (Temminck and Schlegel) to extracted compounds of prey organisms, such as amino acids, nucleotide-related substances, organic acids and organic bases, were electrophysiologically recorded from the facial nerve supplying the anterior palate. Of the 17 amino acids tested, l-proline was the most potent amino acid at 10−2 M, and its threshold was the lowest at around 10−6 M. l-leucine, l-methionine, l-alanine, l-valine and l-isoleucine were also highly stimulatory at 10−2 M; however, the other 11 amino acids examined were not as effective or were ineffective. Thus, the gustatory receptors for amino acids of the Pacific bluefin tuna show a narrowly tuned response profile. Among the seven nucleotide-related substances tested, uridine-5′-monophosphate, inosine-5′-monophosphate and adenosine-5′-diphosphate were highly stimulatory, and their thresholds were 10−4–10−5 M. Inosine elicited a positive response at 10−2 M but its response magnitude was not so high. Organic acids l-lactic and pyruvic acids were effective at 10−2 M, but no response was elicited at 10−3 M. Among organic bases, betaine was highly stimulatory, and its response magnitude at 10−2 M is almost equal to that of l-proline at the same concentration. The threshold for betaine was determined to be at around 10−5 M. Trimethylamine oxide and ammonium chloride were ineffective.