The objective of this work was to verify the presence of endocrine cellules in the medium and posterior intestines, or rectum, and in the piloric cecum in three tropical freshwater Teleostei species with different feeding habits: piracanjuba, (Brycon orbignyanus) and piau (Leporinus friderici) omnivorous; and surubim (Pseudoplatystoma coruscans), carnivore. Seven exemplars of piracanjuba, with average weight and standard length of 410.16 ± 66.33 g and 27.42 ± 1.17 cm, respectively, 13 exemplars of piau with average weight and standard length of 77.71 ± 24.31 g and 14.84 ± 1.56 cm, respectively; and five exemplars of surubim with average weight and standard length of 309.91 ± 94.23 g and 32.70 ± 1.79 cm, respectively, were used. The presence of endocrine cellules like "open" was verified on the segments related to the medium and posterior intestines omnivores species and like "closed" in the medium intestine and in the rectum of the carnivore specie. The argirofiles cellules were observed among the as absortive cellules of intestinal epithelium. The results showed that the presence of endocrine cellules can indicate that the studied species act in the absorption control mechanism of food nutrients. However, due to the obtained amounts, more studies are necessary to elucidate this control.
argirofile cellules; endocrinology; feeding habit; diffused endocrine system; tropical Teleostei
