Undergraduate A Japan-Vietnam research team has published a paper in the Journal of Anatomy, the most prestigious journal in the field dating back to the days of Charles Darwin. The team consists of Visiting Professor Atsushi Ishimatsu, his wife and colleague Ms. Mizuri Ishimatsu, and Dr. Yu Maekawa at the University of Tokyo, and Professor Do Thi Thanh Huong and Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Ha at the College of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Can Tho University. The paper gives an important insight into how transition from water-breathing to air-breathing modifies the cardiovascular anatomy of vertebrates, using two teleost species swamp eel (lươn đồng) (Monopterus albus) and Bengal eel (lịch đồng) (Ophisternon bengalense) as examples. Furthermore, the photographs from this study have been selected as cover images of the issue (Journal of Anatomy Volume 247, Issue 5, November 2025). The research members realize that the study was possible only in the Can Tho University where enough research facilities and ample supply of fish materials are both available. Thus, Can Tho University at the heart of the Mekong Delta keep attracting fish biologists from all over the world.
Paper:
Atsushi Ishimatsu, Mizuri Ishimatsu, Yu Maekawa, Nguyen Thi Kim Ha and Do Thi Thanh Huong (2025). Comparison of the respiratory vasculature of two species of swamp eels, Monopterus albus and Ophisternon bengalense (Synbranchidae). Journal of Anatomy, 247 (5), 1038-1058. https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.14261
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