Structure of the air-brathing organs of a swamp mud eel, Monopterus cuchia.

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The structure of the air-breathing organs of Monopterus (=Amphipnous) cuchia has been studied by using light, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and the morphological basis for buccopharyngeal respiration, aerial as well as aquatic has been established. Respiratory islets are well distributed over the surface of the buccopharynx, hypopharynx and branchial arches extending deep into the gill clefts but occupy only the anterior two-thirds of the air sacs, the remaining posterior one-third part seems to be non-respiratory in function and may serve as a reservoir for residual air. Arterioles penetrate deep into the epithelial region of air sacs and buccopharynx in spiral-like fashion to form the characteristic vascular papillae of the respiratory islets. In juvenile fish new respiratory islets develop in the non-vascular part of the air sac in between large older islets as sprout-like structures. The respiratory area, capillary loading, thickness of air-blood tissue barrier, and the diffusing capacity of the respiratory membrane of a 200g fish were found to be 20cm2, 2.72cm3/m2, 0.72×10-4cm, and 0.00165mlO2/min/mmHg/kg, respectively.
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