Lung of the tree frog, Hyla arborea L. A scanning and transmission electron microscopic study.

Lungs of Hyla arborea L. were examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy and morphometric methods. The lungs contain several interconnected folds in a netlike reticular arrangement of first, second and third order, mainly covered with pneumocytes. On the septa of first and second order, irregularly distributed small patches of ciliated epithelium devoid of goblet cells are located. Dome-shaped neuroepithelial bodies can be seen in the vicinity of ciliated epithelium. The pulmonary epithelium consists of one type of pneumocyte, which contain in their cytoplasm three kinds of bodies: lamellar, dense and multivesicular. The dense bodies are precursors of lamellar bodies (LBs), while the multivesicular bodies are incorporated into the LBs, being later secreted to the air space. The lining layer covering the internal lung surface contains numerous transformed LBs but tubular myelin figures are scarce. The surface of the lining layer is coated by a thin film. The air-blood barrier, consisting of three layers: epithelium, interstitial space and endothelium, is 0.6 micron thick.