This short review traces the history of in vitro experimental methods that have been used to help elucidate the ion transport mechanisms of teleost fish gills. It begins with an isolated gill preparation published by Denis Bellamy in 1961 and progresses through many different approaches and concludes with current techniques. Among them are perfused gill arches, primary cultures of gill epithelia, isolated opercular skin preparations, whole embryos in vitro, the yolk-ball technique, dissociated gill epithelial cells, vibrating microprobe and scanning ion-selective microelectrodes; currently all are combined with molecular biological techniques. Each new approach brought new findings but is subject to certain limitations and each has contributed significantly to this important subfield of comparative physiology.
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