mesonephros
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- Related Topics:
- pronephros
- archinephros
- metanephros
- ureteric bud
- mesonephric duct
mesonephros, permanent kidney of amphibians and most fish, developing posterior to and replacing the pronephros of the embryonic and larval stages. It is a paired organ consisting of a set of nephrons having capsules that filter blood from the glomerulus and tubules whose cells reabsorb water and nutrients and secrete nitrogenous wastes. Glomeruli are absent in some marine fish; urine then forms solely in the tubules, a process that conserves water. The tubules empty into a long tube, the Wolffian duct, a remnant of the pronephros. In more advanced vertebrates the mesonephros develops in the embryo but is replaced after the 10th week in humans by the metanephros.