Parietal pleuraIt lines the chest wall and covers the diaphragm.
Visceral pleuraIt covers the lung's surface.
Pleural cavityThe potential space between the two layers of pleura.
Parietal pericardiumThe outer serous layer; it lines the fibrous pericardium.
Visceral pericardium (epicardium)It covers the heart and is also called the epicardium.
Pericardial cavityThe space between the two serous layers around the heart.
Parietal peritoneumIt lines the wall of the abdomen.
Visceral peritoneumIt is wrapped around the organs of the abdomen.
Peritoneal cavityThe potential space between parietal and visceral peritoneum.
How this list was compiled: Every name and detail line was read on 2026-10-03 and kept only where two independent sources give it. (1) Henry Gray, Anatomy of the Human Body (1918, public domain): The Pleurae, The Pericardium and The Abdomen (the peritoneum), https://www.theodora.com/anatomy/the_pleurae.html , https://www.theodora.com/anatomy/the_pericardium.html and https://www.theodora.com/anatomy/the_abdomen.html . (2) Wikipedia, text only: Pleura, Pericardium, Peritoneum and Serous fluid, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleura . (3) US National Cancer Institute, SEER Training Modules, Membranes, https://training.seer.cancer.gov/anatomy/cells_tissues_membranes/membranes.html . (4) Textbook passages found by archive.org's full-text search: Human Anatomy (2012), https://archive.org/details/humananatomy0000mcki ; Laboratory Textbook of Anatomy and Physiology (1998), https://archive.org/details/laboratorytextbo0000wood ; Atlas and Text-book of Human Anatomy (1906, public domain), https://archive.org/details/atlasandtextboo01thomgoog ; Anatomy and Physiology the Easy Way (2004), https://archive.org/details/anatomyphysiolog0000alca_v8e1 ; Anatomical Terms and Their Derivation (2007), https://archive.org/details/anatomicaltermst0000liso . The drawing is our own. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry. Own original drawing; nothing traced or copied. Licence: own work
How it works
To label the serous membranes of the body, write a name on each numbered line: three at a lung, three at the heart, three in the abdomen. The fist in a balloon model is on serous membranes labeled.
At each organ three bands run side by side, and one line ends on each. The outermost band, against the body wall, is the parietal layer. The innermost, against the organ, is the visceral layer. The band between those two is the cavity. So the three answers at one organ share a word: pleura or pleural at the lung, pericardium or pericardial at the heart, peritoneum or peritoneal in the abdomen.
Both lungs are drawn inside their pleura. Only one has numbers.
When marking, pulmonary pleura is right for visceral pleura and epicardium for visceral pericardium. Space is as good as cavity.
Questions and answers
Why are the serous cavities called potential spaces?
Because in health the two layers are in contact, with only a little fluid between them. The cavity is the place where they could part. The worksheet draws each one wide so that a number can point to it.
Are the two pleural cavities connected?
No. There are two pleurae, a left and a right, one around each lung, and the two do not communicate.
Is the peritoneal cavity the same as the abdominal cavity?
No. The abdominal cavity is the whole space bounded by the backbone, the abdominal muscles, the diaphragm and the pelvic floor. The peritoneal cavity is only the potential space between the parietal and the visceral peritoneum, inside it.
Does the serous membranes worksheet have an answer key?
Yes. The key prints the drawing with its numbers and lists the nine names in order, from parietal pleura to peritoneal cavity.