The anatomy and blood system of the kidney in the river lamprey, lampetra fluviatilis.

The anatomy and blood system of the kidney in the river lamprey, Lampetra fluviatilis, was studied after injecting microfil into nephrons or the arterial system. Renal arteries arose at irregular intervals from the dorsal aorta and gave rise to a regular arrangement of afferent arterioles supplying the network of glomerular capillaries. Nephron units were arranged in two longitudinal series on each side of the glomerular capillaries, with the capsule of each nephron closely related to the capillary network. A short neck segment lead into the convoluted proximal segment, which accounted for over half the length of each nephron and was surrounded by a network of capillaries and sinusoids supplied by efferent glomerular arterioles. The end of each proximal segment formed the descending limb of a nephron loop, which lay parallel to the ascending distal limb and the end of each collecting duct. Peritubular blood flow in this region was generally opposite the flow of tubular fluid and blood eventually drained into large thin-walled sinuses connected to the post-cardinal vein.