The structure of the head kidney in the mudskipper,Periophthalmus koelreuteri (pallas)

The head kidneys of adult Periophthalamus koelreuteri contain many functional glomerular nephorns which on the basis of this histochemical study, are indistinguishable from those of the typical opistonephros of marine teleosts. The anterior lobes resemble, in location and in the presence of intertubular erythropoeitic tissue, the pronephros in other species. The single nephron found there, however, does not differ significantly from the other nephrons of the head kidney. It is suggested, therefore, that the nephrons of the head kidney in this species are opisthonephric in origin.