This document summarizes the circulatory systems of various animals. It begins by describing the components of blood in mammals, including plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. It then discusses the open and closed circulatory systems, found in invertebrates and vertebrates respectively. The summary describes the unique circulatory approaches in different phyla, from sponges that rely on water currents, to worms with dorsal and ventral blood vessels, to arthropods with hemolymph that bathes organs. Finally, it analyzes the evolution of circulatory systems in vertebrates from fish to amphibians to mammals with their four-chambered hearts that separate oxygenated and deoxygenated blood
3. Components
Blood is made up of four major
components:
◦ Plasma: the liquid portion.
◦ Red blood cells.
◦ White cells.
◦ Platelets.
4. Red blood cells
◦ RBCs lose their
nucleus at maturity.
◦ Make up about 99% of
the blood’s cellular
component.
◦ Red color is due to
hemoglobin.
◦ Carry out oxygen and
nutrient all over the
body
5. Hemoglobin
◦ Hemoglobin is a
complex protein made
up of four protein
strands, plus iron-rich
heme groups.
◦ Each hemoglobin
molecule can carry four
oxygen atoms. The
presence of oxygen
turns hemoglobin bright
red.
6. White cells
◦ White blood cells
defend against disease
by recognizing proteins
that do not belong to the
body.
◦ White cells are able to
ooze through the walls
of capillaries to patrol
the tissues and reach
the lymph system.
7. Platelets
◦ Platelets are cell
fragments used in blood
clotting.
◦ Platelets are derived
from megakaryocites.
Because they lack a
nucleus, platelets have a
short lifespan, usually
about 10 days.
9. Circulatory system, system that transports
nutrients, respiratory gases, and metabolic
products throughout a living organism,
permitting integration among the various
tissues. The process of circulation includes
the intake of metabolic materials,
the conveyance of these materials throughout
the organism, and the return of harmful by-
products to the environment.
Circulatory systems generally have three
main features:
◦ Fluid (blood or hemolymph) that transports
materials
◦ System of blood vessels
◦ A heart to pump the fluid through the
vessels
10. Types of circulatory systems
Animals that have a circulatory system
have one of two kinds:
◦ Open: fluid is circulated through an open body
chamber.
◦ Closed: fluid is circulated through blood
vessels.
11. Open system
◦ Open circulatory system – No
distinction between blood and
the interstitial fluid;
hemolymph
◦ Most Molluscs and Arthropods
◦ A tubular muscle, or heart,
pumps hemolymph through a
network of channels and body
cavities, before draining back to
the central cavity
◦ Hemolymph directly
bathes the internal
organs
12. Closed system
◦ Closed circulatory system –
The circulating fluid, or
blood, is enclosed within
blood vessels that transport
it away from – and back to
– the heart
◦ All vertebrates, cephalopod
molluscs, and annelids
◦ Consists of
heart, blood
vessels and
blood
14. Invertebrates - Protozoa
Open system, in which fluid passes more or less freely throughout the
tissues or defined areas of tissue. The circulating fluid is not confined to
distinct vessels, and it more or less freely bathes the organs directly
usually it just flows in cytoplasm (Hemolymph). There are no difference
between blood or interstitial body fluids.
15. Invertebrates – Porifera
Sponges have no real circulatory system. Sponges have flagellated cells
over the surface of their bodies, these are cells that have tails that wiggles.
The collective effort of all these cells creates a water current through the
many porous openings in the sponges body. It's a water based circulatory
system.
16. Invertebrates - Cnidarians
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are such a unique kind
of marine animal that they
actually dont have a
specialized circulatory system.
They dont even have a
specialized respiratory system.
They can easily absorb oxygen
when needed through their thin
bodies.
Coral
Corals, Coelentrerates, have a
gastrovascular system. A
gastrovascular system is a
type of system where the
circulatory system and the
digestive system are meshed
together. The gastrovascular
system in the Coral actually
gives better circulation through
the many species of fish that live
symbiotically with it.
17. Invertebrates - Nematodes
Nematodes doesn't have a circulatory system as you can see in
the diagram below. There is no heart so there are no blood
vessels. Instead minerals are transferred throughout the body via
fluid in the Pseudocoelom
18. Invertebrates -
Platyhelminthes
Platyheminthes lack a circulatory system but are able to obtain oxygen and
waste to their body cells through diffusion. Instead they actually have a
gastrovacular cavity that has one opening. Platyheminthes can diffuse there
food without the need for circulatory, respiratory, and excretion systems.
Flatworms have specialized cells called flame cells that remove excess
water.This could help in disposing waste that they could have diffused
throughout their bodies.
19. Invertebrates - Annelids
Annelids has a closed circulatory system. A
closed circulatory system means that the
blood is confined to blood vessels and its
blood recirculates so it gets maximum use.
The worm uses its bodies suface area to
absorb oxygen from the soil instead for
using lungs or gills.
The oxygen absorbed is then
taken into the dorsal blood vessels and
travels to five hearts by the esophagus. At
the esophagus, it pumps it to the lower
ventral blood vessels which then pumps the
oxygen to all organs in need. To complete
the loop of the circulation, in each segment
there is a small blood vessel that sends the
blood from the ventral vessel back to the
dorsal blood vessel.
20. Invertebrates - Mollusc
Mollusks have an open circulatory system, meaning the blood does
not circulate entirely within vessels but is collected from the gills,
pumped through the heart, and released directly into spaces in the
tissues from which it returns to the gills and then to the heart. Such a
blood-filled space is known as a hemocoel or blood cavity. In the
mollusks, the hemocoel has largely replaced the coelom, which is
reduced to a small area around the heart and to the cavities of the
organs of reproduction and excretion.
21. Invertebrate - Echinodermata
Echinoderms have an open circulatory system with cilia circulating the
fluids through each arm. Echinoderms have a network of fluid-filled
canals that function in gas exchange, feeding and in movement. The
network contains a central ring and areas which contain the tube feet
which stretch along the body or arms. The tube feet poke through holes
in the skeleton and can be extended or contracted. They do not have a
true heart.
22. Invertebrate - Arthropods
Arthropods have an open circulatory system. In this type of system,
there is neither a true heart or capillaries as are found in humans.
Instead of a heart there are blood vessels that act as pumps to force the
blood along. Instead of capillaries, blood vessels join directly with open
sinuses. "Blood," actually a combination of blood and interstitial fluid
called 'hemolymph', is forced from the blood vessels into large sinuses,
where it actually baths the internal organs.
23. Vertebrate - Amphibians
Amphibians have a three-chambered heart that
has two atria and one ventricle rather than the
two-chambered heart of fish (figure b). The two
atria receive blood from the two different circuits
(the lungs and the systems). There is some
mixing of the blood in the heart's ventricle, which
reduces the efficiency of oxygenation. The
advantage to this arrangement is that high
pressure in the vessels pushes blood to the
lungs and body. The mixing is mitigated by a
ridge within the ventricle that diverts oxygen-rich
blood through the systemic circulatory system
and deoxygenated blood to the pulmocutaneous
circuit where gas exchange occurs in the lungs
and through the skin. For this reason,
amphibians are often described as having
double circulation.
24. Vertebrate - Pisces
Fish have a single circuit for blood flow and a
two-chambered heart that has only a single
atrium and a single ventricle (figure a). The
atrium collects blood that has returned from
the body, while the ventricle pumps the blood
to the gills where gas exchange occurs and
the blood is re-oxygenated; this is called gill
circulation. The blood then continues through
the rest of the body before arriving back at the
atrium; this is called systemic circulation. This
unidirectional flow of blood produces a
gradient of oxygenated to deoxygenated
blood around the fish's systemic circuit. The
result is a limit in the amount of oxygen that
can reach some of the organs and tissues of
the body, reducing the overall metabolic
capacity of fish.
25. Vertebrate - Reptile
Most reptiles also have a three-chambered heart
similar to the amphibian heart that directs blood
to the pulmonary and systemic circuits (figure c).
The ventricle is divided more effectively by a
partial septum, which results in less mixing of
oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. One
adaptation includes two mainarteries that leave
the same part of the heart: one takes blood to the
lungs and the other provides an alternate route to
the stomach and other parts of the body. Two
other adaptations include a hole in the heart
between the two ventricles, called the foramen of
Panizza, which allows blood to move from one
side of the heart to the other, and specialized
connective tissue that slows the blood flow to the
lungs.
26. Vertebrate – Aves and
Mammal
In mammals and birds, the heart is
also divided into four chambers: two
atria and two ventricles (figure d).
The oxygenated blood is separated
from the deoxygenated blood, which
improves the efficiency of double
circulation and is probably required
for the warm-blooded lifestyle of
mammals and birds. The four-
chambered heart of birds and
mammals evolved independently
from a three-chambered heart.