Статья. Опубликована в журнале: Annual review of physiology, 1967, Т. 29, №. 1. – С. 169-196.Until a decade ago research on invertebrate excretory organs was confined almost entirely to their roles in producing the adaptive responses required for a nutritional regimen, an activity pattern, and especially an osmotic milieu. But the processes by which urine was produced from blood received virtually no attention. Until 1940 analyses of renal processes existed in only a handful of papers: one on the structure and function of the crayfish antennal gland, one on filtration in mollusks, and four on tubular and rectal structure and function in insects. Ten years later, exactly two more had been added: an analysis of tubular fluid composition in the earthworm nephridium, and an analysis of the "filtrate" formed by the clam. All have become classics, referred to in nearly every survey of invertebrate excretion, but the list is pitiful when compared with a single year's output on the mammalian kidney. One outcome was that many questions could be formulated about renal mechanisms in the invertebrates, but few could be answered. Martin's review coincided with the end of this period. Intensive analytical work on the insect Malpighian tubule was being reported, and preliminary reports on kidney function in the octopus had already appeared. Only a few years later a significant amount of new material was integrated into a review on the production of hypotonic and hypertonic urines. Many useful surveys of invertebrate excretion have appeared since then. These include a monograph on osmotic and ionic regulation as well as more restricted reviews of excretion in mollusks, crustaceans, and earthworms. Excretion in insects has been especially well surveyed.
Even the most recent reviews have emphasized the adaptive role of excretory organs, especially in osmotic and ionic regulation. Renal mechanisms have received less attention, or none at all. In this review the order of stress is reversed; the adaptive significance of renal mechanisms will be noted where appropriate, but is a secondary theme. This reflects nothing more than the reviewer's interests, but the emphasis has dictated the structure and some limitations of the survey. A phyletic organization was rejected in favor of topical treatment because the latter brings out general similarities that appear to exist among many invertebrate groups. Heavy emphasis has been placed on relatively few papers dealing with members of only two phyla, the Arthropoda and Mollusca. In contrast, the metanephridium receives only a little attention, and protonephridial organs are almost disregarded. Such an uneven treatment accurately represents the present state of the art. No attempt has been made to cover the literature exhaustively. Selection of papers was based on their relevance to the analysis of renal processes. It is hoped that no important ones were overlooked.
