A novel fibrocartilaginous tendon from an elasmobranch fish (Rhinoptera bonasus)

Tendons of the jaw adductor muscles of a hard prey crushing stingray exhibit similar adaptations to compressive and shear loads as those seen in mammalian tendons. Ventral inter-mandibular tendon from the cow-nose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, has a prominent fibrocartilaginous pad that lies between a fibrous region of the tendon and the mineralized tissue of the jaw. Histologically the pad is similar to the fibrocartilaginous meniscus of mammals, and these tissues also share some biochemical traits. Proteoglycan (PG) content in the fibrocartilaginous pad is nearly four times higher than in the linearly arrayed tendinous tissue. The predominant PGs appear to be an aggrecan-like molecule and a decorin-like molecule. The decorin-like molecule is quite small when compared to mammalian decorin (20-80 kDa vs. 100200 kDa). This study is the first to document adaptations to compressive/shear loading in tendon from a cartilaginous fish, and the similarities to the mammalian condition argue for the early evolution of this reactive ability of tendinous tissue.