2.1 Definition of the Gut and its Subdivisions
The gut is a tubular structure beginning at the mouth and ending at the anus. It is commonly divided into four parts. The most anterior part, the head gut, is most often considered in terms of its two components, the oral (buccal) and gill (branchial, pharyngeal) cavities. The foregut begins at the posterior edge of the gills and includes the oesophagus, the stomach, and the pylorus. In fish, such as the cyprinus, which lack both a stomach and pylorus, the foregut consists of the oesophagus and an intestine anterior to the opening of the bile duct. This posterior demarcation is arbitrary and primarily for convenience during gross dissection and may have little relation to the functional aspects. The midgut includes the intestine posterior to the pylorus, often with no distinct demarcation posteriorly between it and the hindgut. The midgut often includes a variable number of pyloric caecae (pyloric appendages) near the pylorus, although pyloric caecae are always absent in fishes which lack stomachs. The midgut is always the longest portion of the gut and ma be coiled into complicated loops (often characteristic for each species) when longer than the visceral cavity. In some fish, the beginning of the hindgut is marked by an increase in diameter of the gut. The posterior end of the hindgut is the anus. Only rarely is there a hindgut caecum in fish comparable to that found in mammals. A cloaca (a chamber common to anal and urogenital openings and formed from infolded body wall) never occurs in teleost fish, except the Dipnoi, although it is universal in sharks and rays.