A renal countercurrent system in marine elasmobranch fish: a computer-assisted reconstruction.
Computer-aided techniques were used to reconstruct the complex renal tubular system in the dorsal kidney region of a marine elasmobranch fish, the little skate (Raja erinacea), from a series of light micrographs of serial sections. It was established that five individual segments of one nephron, consisting of two loops and a distal tubule, are arranged in parallel within an elongated closed tissue sac. Capillaries, which form a network around these nephron segments, enter and exit this sac at the same end. This anatomical arrangement suggests that a complex renal countercurrent multiplier system may be important in fluid regulation in these fish.
D000818:Animals; D003201:Computers; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D007668:Kidney / Q000502:physiology*; D007684:Kidney Tubules / Q000502:physiology; D008322:Mammals / Q000502:physiology; D009399:Nephrons / Q000502:physiology