On the chromaffin system of the African lungfish, Protopterus aethiopicus

The distribution of chromaffin tissue was studied in the African lungfish using Falck-Hillarp fluorescent histochemistry together with quantitative analysis of catecholamines in plasma and tissue extracts. Intensely fluorescent cells form chromaffin tissue in the wall of the atrium, the wall of the most anterior part of the left cardinal vein and the walls of the segmentally arranged intercostal arteries. The arrangement thus appears to be a combination of the situations in cyclostomes, elasmobranchs and teleosts. Adrenaline is present in larger quantities than noradrenaline in the intercostal arteries and the cardinal vein, while noradrenaline dominates in the atrium. During "stress" induced by physical disturbance of the animals, a strong increase in especially the noradrenaline concentration of the plasma was detected.