The crystalline particles composed of calcium carbonate and a protein which adhere to the gelatinous membrane of the maculae of the utricle and saccule (otolithic membrane). [ https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=bn%3A0-683-40008-8 MP:0002894 http://www.informatics.jax.org/accession/llw2 ]
Term information
- EFO:0003539
- ZFA:0000559
- MA:0002841
- MESH:D012444
- VHOG:0001676
- Wikipedia:Otolith_organ
- TAO:0000559
- GAID:883
uberon_slim, efo_slim, pheno_slim, vertebrate_core, organ_slim
Representation of utricle, sacule and otoliths in correspondence to other ontologies may require review. In EHDAA2, saccule and utricle are epithelia
In fishes, as in other vertebrates, the vestibular end-organs are divided into a gravity receptor system, with three subdivisions and an angular acceleration receptor system. The gravity receptor system on each side consists of utricular, saccular, and lagenar maculae, each covered by an otolith (reference 1); (...)considerations have led to our rethinking issues related to the origin of several aspects of vertebrate hearing, and to the view that many basic auditory functions evolved very early in vertebrate history, and that the functions observed in more `advanced' vertebrates, such as birds and mammals, are frequently modifications of themes first encountered in fishes, and perhaps even more ancestral animals (reference 2).[well established][VHOG]
Term relations
- ectoderm-derived structure
- vestibular organ
- part of some vestibular system
- capable of part of some linear vestibuloocular reflex
- part of some vestibular labyrinth
- develops from some ear vesicle