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Biol Bull 107: 260-277. (October 1954)
© 1954 Marine Biological Laboratory
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SECRETION OF GASES AGAINST HIGH PRESSURES IN THE SWIMBLADDER OF DEEP SEA FISHES II. THE RETE MIRABILE

P. F. SCHOLANDER 1

1 WoodS Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and Lerner Marine Laboratory, Bimini, Bahamas

1. The structure and dimensions are given for the rete mirabile. It is interpreted as a counter current diffusion exchange mechanism between the afferent and efferent rete.

2. This diffusion exchange has been quantitatively evaluated for O2, CO2, and N2. The arrangement makes possible the maintenance of a steep tension gradient within the rete, so that the oxygen loss from the leaving blood can be extremely low.

3. Quantitative evaluation of the efficiency of the rete diffusion makes it clear that the limiting equilibrium pressure in the swimbladder could be extremely high, and that the limiting factor lies mainly in the dissociation pressure of the chemical or physical reaction which ultimately splits off the oxygen.

4. The nature of the responsible compound and reaction is unknown. The anatomical arrangement of the glandular structure and the rete is suggestive of a cellular secretion of oxygen rather than of a mechanism that splits off oxygen in the blood.

5. Data on the deposition of nitrogen against high pressures which were previously found in deep sea fish have been confirmed and extended. The argon-to-nitrogen ratio in the swimbladder gas suggests that the nitrogen has entered the swimbladder via some physical mechanism. The possibility that this is brought about by a lowering of the nitrogen solubility coefficient in the efferent rete is discussed.




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