Blood formation in the african lungfish, under normal conditions and under conditions of prolonged estivation and recovery

Abstract

AbstractThe blood cells of the African lungfish, Protopterus ethiopicus, are very large and resemble those of urodeles. Leucocytes are especially plentiful and rich in variety, including eosinophils, special eosinophils, [meta‐eosinophils] with atypical granules, monocytes, thrombocytes, lymphocytes, and basophils.The chief hemocytopoietic organs are the spleen, intestine, and kidneys. The lungfish spleen, embedded in the wall of the stomach, represents an intermediate phylogenetic stage between the disperse intra‐enteral type of the hagfish and the compact extra‐enteral type of other vertebrates.Erythrocytes are formed in the spleen pulp, granulocytes in the granulocytopoietic organ of the intestine and in the capsules of kidneys, gonads, and spleen. Thrombocytes and monocytes are differentiated in the spleen and general circulation. Basophils arise in the spleen and intestine. Lymphoid cells of all types arise in the spleen. Evidence is presented bearing upon the hemocytopoietic capacity of the various types. Cells with [Russell bodies] also occur in the spleen.In lungfishes subjected to long periods of dry estivation, erythrocytopoiesis practically ceases. Granulocytes, however, appear to play an important rǒle, possibly in fat metabolism. The large variety of meta‐eosinophils, a unique feature of the lungfish, appears to be associated with the habit of estivation.Recovery from estivation may show numerous amitoses of erythrocytes in the general circulation. Other cells which divide in this manner are young thrombocytes, granulocytes, monocytes, and lymphoid hemoblasts.