Chapter 14

ZOOLOGY 200
The Circulatory System
Functions:
1. Transport of Nutrients to all body parts
* Glucose, amino acids, lipids, inorganic salts and water
2. Transport of Oxygen & Carbon Dioxide
* Carried as free dissolve in Plasma
* Hemoglobin (RBC)
3. Transport of Hormones
4. Transport of Excretory Products
*Urea, uric acid, creatines , and wastes from Liver
5. Fight against Infections and Toxins
* WBC’s of Blood
* Monocytes – Phagocytosis
* Lymphocytes – cooperate in Phagocytosis
a. T-Lymphocytes – heart of cell-mediated immune response
b. B- Lymphocytes – heart of antibody immune response
6. Maintains acid-base balance through the buffer system w/c neutralizes acids and bases.
7. Transport of heat or maintain body temperature
* radiation, increase metabolic activities, sweating & evaporation
8. Maintains degree of Irritability of tissue cells
* functional activities are carried satisfactorily
9. Restriction of Fluid Loss through damaged vessels or injury.

There are several types of circulatory systems

1. open circulatory system = (evolved in insects, mollusks and other invertebrates)
= pump blood into a hemocoel with the blood diffusing back to the circulatory system between
cells. Blood is pumped by a heart into the body cavities, where tissues are surrounded by the blood.
= The resulting blood flow is sluggish.
 Circulatory systems of an insect (top) and mollusc (middle). Images from Purves et al., Life: The
Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates (www.sinauer.com) and WH Freeman
(www.whfreeman.com), used with permission.

2. closed circulatory system = have the blood closed at all times within vessels of different size and wall
thickness. In this type of system, blood is pumped by a heart through vessels, and does not normally fill
body cavities.
= Blood flow is not sluggish.
= Hemoglobin causes vertebrate blood to turn red in the presence of oxygen;
= but more importantly hemoglobin molecules in blood cells transport oxygen.
= The human closed circulatory system is sometimes called the cardiovascular system.
= A secondary circulatory system, the lymphatic circulation, collects fluid and cells and returns them
to the cardiovascular system.

Components of the Circulatory System

1. Blood Vascular System
a. blood vessels
Arteries
= carry blood away from the heart
= have muscular, elastic walls
= terminate in capillary beds

Aortic arches of fishes - general pattern of development of arches in cartilaginous fishes:

1 - Ventral aorta extends forward below pharynx & connects developing aortic arches. The first pair of
arches develop first.
2 - Segments of first pair are lost & remaining sections become efferent pseudobranchial arteries
3 - Other pairs of arches (2 - 6) give rise to pre- & posttrematic arteries
4 - Arches 2 - 6 become occluded; dorsal segments = efferent branchial arteries & ventral segments =
afferent branchial arteries
5 - Capillary beds develop within nine demibranchs
 Teleosts:
 the same changes convert 6 pairs of embryonic aortic arches into afferent & efferent
branchial arteries
 arches 1 & 2 are usually lost
 Lungfish:
  the pulmonary artery branches off the 6th aortic arch and supplies the swim bladder (& this
is the same way that tetrapod lungs are supplied)
 Aortic arches of tetrapods - embryos have 6 pairs of aortic arches:
 but the 1st & 2nd arches are temporary & not found in adults
 the 3rd aortic arches & the paired dorsal aortas anterior to arch 3 are called the internal
carotid arteries
 the 4th aortic arches are called the systemic arches
 the 5th aortic arch is usually lost
 the pulmonary arteries branch off the 6th arches & supply blood to the lungs
  Birds & mammals - no mixing of oxygenated
& unoxygenated blood; complete interventricular
septum + division of ventral aorta into 2 trunks:
- Pulmonary trunk that takes blood to the lungs
- Aortic trunk that takes blood to the rest of the
body
- Result of modifications: All blood returning to
right side of heart goes to the lungs; blood returning from
lungs to the left side of heart goes to systemic circulation.

Aortic Arches and von Baer’s Law

aortic arches- are a series of six paired embryological
vascular structures which give rise to several major
arteries.
- They are ventral to the dorsal aorta.
- the development of the six aortic arches in all
vertebrate embryos and the systematic modification or elimination of first one vessel and then another in
successively higher vertebrates is an example of Von Baer’s Law
 Baer's laws (embryology)
He formulated what would later be called Baer's laws of embryology:
1. General characteristics of the group to which an embryo belongs develop before special characteristics.
2. General structural relations are likewise formed before the most specific appear.
3. The form of any given embryo does not converge upon other definite forms but, on the contrary,
separates itself from them.
4. Fundamentally, the embryo of a higher animal form never resembles the adult of another animal form,
such as one less evolved, but only its embryo.

Dorsal Aorta
 in the head & pharyngeal region;
-paired in embryos and frequently in adults, sometimes disguise under the names such as
internal carotid(in which blood flows to the brain) and ductus caroticus.
 of the trunk;
-unpaired.
-gives off a segmental series of paired somatic branches to the body wall and appendages,
and a series of paired and unpaired visceral branches.
-continues into the tail as caudal artery.
 Somatic branches - series of paired segmental arteries from the aorta along the length of the
trunk
 Visceral braches - series of unpaired visceral branches (splanchnic vessels) pass via dorsal
mesenteries to the unpaired viscera, chiefly digestive organs, suspended in the coelom
 Allantoic arteries of amniotes - internal iliacs sprout off the umbilical arteries as development
progress, and the umbilicals finally become branches of external and internal iliacs

Coronary Arteries
 the vessels that deliver oxygen-rich blood to the myocardium
 In elasmobranchs; coronary arteries arise from hypobranchial arteries that receive aerated blood
from several arterial loops around the gill chambers.
 In frogs; arise from carotid arch.
 In reptiles and birds; they arise from the aortic trunk leading to the right fourth arch, or from the
brachiocephalic.
 In mammals; arise from the base of the ascending aorta just beyond the semilunar valves.
 In few vertebrates (including urodeles); the coronary supply consists of many small arteries.

Retia Mirabilia (rete mirabile-singular)

 “wonderful networks”
 is a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other, found in some vertebrates.
 utilizes countercurrent blood flow within the net (blood flowing in opposite directions.)
 exchanges heat, ions, or gases between vessel walls so that the two bloodstreams within the rete
maintain a gradient with respect to temperature, or concentration of gases or solutes.
  found in the head on the carotid arteries of a variety of vertebrates.
 modulate blood pressure within the brain or other organs of the head.

 Veins
= carry blood back to the heart
= have less muscle in their walls than arteries but the walls are very
elastic
= begin at the end of capillary beds

 The Basic Pattern: Sharks

- cardinal streams: common cardinal veins, anterior cardinal veins,
posterior cardinal veins, posterior cardinal sinuses
- renal portal stream
- lateral abdominal stream: iliac vein, lateral abdominal vein,
brachial vein, subclavian vein, cloacal vein, parietal vein
- hepatic portal stream: vitelline veins, subintestinal vein
- hepatic sinuses
 Other fishes
- much like those of sharks
- CYCLOSTOMES: no renal portal veins, no left common cardinals
- RAY-FINNED FISHES: lack abdominals, pelvic fins are drained by the postcardinals, blood from swim
bladders empties into the common cardinal veins
- DIPNOANS: pelvic fins are drained by an unpaired ventral abdominal vein, missing right postcardinal,
blood from swim bladders empties into the left atrium
- ALL FISHES: blood from swim bladders empty into the sinus venosus
 Tetrapods
- cardinal veins: postcardinals, precardinals (interjugular vein in tetrapods), common cardinals (precavae
in tetrapods)
- postcava: arises in a subcardinal venous plexus, called inferior vena cava in mammals
- abdominal stream: ventral abdominal vein (amphibians), allantoic veins (reptiles), (mammals) – round
ligament of the liver, ductos venosus, ligamentum venosum
- renal portal system: external iliac vein (amphibians), snakes, birds, mammals
- hepatic portal system: similar in all vertebrates
- coronary veins: reptiles, birds and mammals,
amphibians

 Capillaries
= have very thin walls (endothelium only)
= are the site of exchange between the blood and body
cells

Portal System
 A system of veins terminating in a capillary bed
B. The Heart
Heart- The propulsive organ of the circulatory system

Layers of the Heart

1. Epicardium
- outermost layer connective tissue component
2. Myocardium
- middle layer muscular component
3. Endocardium
- innermost layer epithelial component
Single- and Double-Circuit Hearts
1. Single-circuit heart
- found in species that breathe with gills
*path

2. Double-circuit heart
- found in species that breathe with lungs rather than gills
Hagfish
 open blood vessels,
 The heart has two chambers separated by a
cartilaginous rod. When muscles contract to bend this
rod, the volume of each chamber changes; one side
expanding to draw in blood and the other contracting
to expel blood.
 Valves prevent backflow of blood.
Cartilaginous fishes
 single-circuit heart with 4 chambers: sinus venosus, atrium,
ventricle, & conus arteriosus
 the sinus venosus receives blood & is filled by suction
when the ventricle contracts & enlarges the pericardial
cavity
 the atrium is a thin-walled muscular sac; an A-V valve
regulates flow between atrium & ventricle
 the ventricle has thick, muscular walls
 the conus arteriosus
leads into the ventral
aorta (and a series of
conal valves in the
conus arteriosus
prevent the backflow
of blood)
Teleosts
 heart is similar to that of
cartilaginous fishes, except a
bulbus arteriosus (a muscular
extension of the ventral
aorta) is present rather than a conus arteriosus (a muscular extension of
the ventricle)
 which is probably why most of them are
"cold-blooded".
 Blood collected from throughout the fish's body enters a thin-walled
receiving chamber, the atrium.
 As the heart relaxes, the blood passes through a valve into the thick-
walled, muscular ventricle.
 Contraction of the ventricle forces the
blood into the capillary networks of the
gills where gas exchange occurs.
 The blood then passes on to the capillary networks that supply the rest of
the body where exchanges with the tissues occur.
 Then the blood returns to the atrium.
 Lungfish & amphibians
  - modifications are correlated with the presence of lungs & enable
oxygenated blood returning from the
lungs to be separated from
deoxygenated blood returning from
elsewhere
 Partial or complete partition within
atrium (complete in anurans and some
urodeles)
 Partial interventricular septum
(lungfish) or ventricular trabeculae
(amphibians) to maintain separation of
oxygenated & unoxygenated blood
 Formation of a spiral valve in the conus
arteriosus of many dipnoans and
amphibians. The spiral valve alternately
blocks & unblocks the entrances to the left and right pulmonary
arches (sending unoxygenated blood to the skin & lungs).
 Shortening of ventral aorta, which helps ensure that the oxygenated & unoxygenated block kept
separate in the heart moves directly into the appropriate vessels
The Frog Heart
 The frog heart has 3 chambers: two
atria and a single ventricle.
 The atrium receives deoxygenated
blood from the blood vessels (veins)
that drain the various organs of the
body.
 The left atrium receives oxygenated
blood from the lungs and skin (which
also serves as a gas exchange organ in
most amphibians).
 Both atria empty into the single
ventricle.
 While this might appear to waste the
opportunity to keep oxygenated and
deoxygenated bloods separate, the ventricle is
divided into narrow chambers that reduce the
mixing of the two blood.
 So when the ventricle contracts,
 oxygenated blood from the left atrium is sent,
relatively pure, into the carotid arteries
taking blood to the head (and brain);
 deoxygenated blood from the right atrium is
sent, relatively pure, to the pulmocutaneous
arteries taking blood to the skin and lungs
where fresh oxygen can be picked up.
 Only the blood passing into the aortic arches
has been thoroughly mixed, but even so it
contains enough oxygen to supply the needs of
the rest of the body.
The Lizard Heart
Lizards have a muscular septum which partially divides the ventricle.
 When the ventricle contracts, the opening in the septum closes and the ventricle is momentarily
divided into two separate chambers.
 This prevents mixing of the two bloods.
 The left half of the ventricle pumps oxygenated blood (received from the left atrium) to the
body.
 The right half pumps deoxygenated blood (received from the right atrium) to the lungs.
Amniotes:
1. Heart consists of 2 atria & 2 ventricles &, except in adult birds & mammals, a sinus venosus
2 - Complete interatrial septum
3 - Complete interventricular septum only in crocodilians, birds, & mammals; partial septum in other
amniotes

Four Chambers: Birds and Mammals

 The septum is complete in the hearts of birds and mammals providing two separate circulatory
systems:
 pulmonary for gas exchange with the environment and
 systemic for gas exchange (and all other exchange needs) of the rest of the body.
Innervation of the Heart
 The contraction of the heart is autogenic.
 Pulsation depends on the appropriate concentrations of certain electrolytes (Na+, K+, Ca+).
 The rate of autogenic pulsation of a denervated sinus venosus is imposed on the atria and
ventricles via the Purkinje fibers.
 An extrinsic neural stimulus is necessary to produce a regular beat that can be increased or slowed
by the CNS.
Morphogenesis of the Heart
 Specification of cardiac precursor cells
 Migration of cardiac precursor cells and fusion of the primordia
 Heart looping
 Heart chamber formation
  Septation and valve formation

C. Blood
 Composition of Blood

 Formed Elements
a. Erythrocytes (Red blood cells)
- Structure: Biconcave, anucleate
- Components: Hemoglobin, Lipids, ATP, carbonic anhydrase
- Function: Transport oxygen from lungs to tissues and carbon dioxide from tissues to lungs
*HEMOGLOBIN
Consists of:
-4 globin molecules: Transport carbon dioxide (carbonic anhydrase involved), nitric oxide
-4 heme molecules: Transport oxygen
 Iron is required for oxygen transport

b. Leukocytes (White blood cells)

*Granulocytes
- Eosinophils: Detoxify chemicals; reduce inflammation (4%)
- Basophils: Alergic reactions; Release histamine, heparin
increase inflam. response (1%)
- Neutrophils: Most common; phagocytic cells destroy
bacteria (60%)
*Agranular leukocytes
- Lymphocytes: Immunity 2 types; b & t Cell types. IgG-
infection, IgM-microbes, IgA-Resp & GI, IgE- Alergy, IgD-immune
response
- Monocytes: Become macrophages
c. Thrombocytes (Platelets)
*Cell fragments pinched off from megakaryocytes in red bone marrow
*Important in preventing blood loss
-Platelet plugs
-Promoting formation and contraction of clots

 Hemopoiesis – the formation of blood cells

Circulation in the Mammalian Fetus and Changes at Birth
 Dorsal aorta – umbilical arteries
 Umbilical cord – placenta
 Placenta [oxygenated blood] – fetus
 Ductus venosus – postcava – right atrium
 Right atrium – interatrial foramen – left atrium
 Left atrium – left ventricle – systemic arch
 Oxygenated blood – fetal brain and anterior limbs
 At birth major circulatory changes adapt the organism for pulmonary respiration:
1.- The ductus arteriosus closes as a result of nerve impulses passing to its muscular wall. These impulses
are initiated reflexly when the lungs are filled with air with the first gasp after the delivery.
- In birds, this is usually the day after hatching.
- Arterial ligament
2.- The flaplike interatrial valve is pressed against the interatrial foramen by the sudden increase in
pressure in the left atrium that results from the greatly increased volume of blood entering from the lungs.
- It prevents the unoxygenated blood in the right atrium from entering the left atrium
- Fossa ovalis remains
3.- The umbilical arteries and vein are severed at the umbilicus.
- No blood passes through the umbilical arteries beyond the urinary bladder.
- Lateral umbilical ligaments.
4.- Blood no longer flows through the umbilical vein.
- Round ligament of the liver.
- Ligementum venosum
- Failure of the foramen ovale to close or of the ductus arteriosus to fully constrict may result in cyanosis.

2. Lymphatic system
 Is a partner with the circulatory system
 collect and return interstitial fluid, including protein to the blood and thus help maintain fluid
balance.
 defend the body against disease by producing lymphocytes
 absorb lipids from the intestine and transport them to the blood
 Consists of lymph vessels, lymph ( a fluid in transit), lymph hearts (embryonic birds), lymph
nodes (birds and mammals) and lymph nodules, ( the largest of which is the spleen)

Lymphatic Vessels
 They primarily collect interstitial fluid together with the lymph capillaries.
 A tubular system that absorbs and recirculates escaped fluid to the general circulation.
 They also absorb lipids from the digestive tract, termed lacteals, pick up large-chain fatty acids
and return them to the blood circulation
 walls are single-layered endothelial tubes and are similar to veins.
 They are branching tubes of slightly greater diameter than blood capillaries, but exhibiting
constrictions and expansions rather than being of a standard diameter.
 Lymph sinusoids – expansions of the vessels
 Major vessels: jugular lymphatics (head and neck), subclavian lymphatics (anterior
appendage), lumbar lymphatics (posterior appendage), thoracic lymphatics (trunk, viscera of
body cavity, tail)

Lymph
 Colorless or pale yellow, once inside the tubes.
 A fluid carried by the lymphatic vessels.
 It consists mostly of water and a few dissolved substances such as electrolytes and proteins
 This fluid passes from one endothelial-lined channel to the next, and finally empties into a vein.
 Certain lymphatics in cyclostomes, cartilaginous fishes contain some red blood cells, the fluid in
these vessels is called, hemolymph.

Lymph hearts
  occur along the route of return
 help ensure the return of lymph to the cardiovascular system.
 these are not true hearts because they lack cardiac muscle, but striated muscles in their walls
slowly develop pulses of pressure to drive the lymph.
 Occur in frogs - 2 pairs of lymph hearts
Urodeles – 16 pairs
Caecilians – as many as 100
Amphibians, especially aquatic and semiaquatic amphibians
Embryonic birds

Lymph Nodes
 Are masses of hemopoietic tissue interposed along the course of lymph channels of birds and
mammals but are absent in other vertebrates. In reptiles, dilation or expansion of lymphatic vessels
termed as lymphatic cisterns or lymphatic sacs occur at locations usually occupied by true
lymph nodes in birds and mammals.
 They are “swollen glands” that can be palpated in the neck , axilla, and groin of humans when
there is inflammation in the areas.
 Lymph enters a node via several afferent lymphatics, filters through the node, and leaves via a
single large efferent lymphatic.
 Second line of defense against bacterial infections acquired through the skin, the first line being
granulocytes that assemble at the invaded area.

Other miscellaneous lymphoid masses

 Spleen - plays an important part in a person's immune system and helps the body fight infection.
Like the lymph nodes, the spleen contains antibody-producing lymphocytes.
 Thymus (absent in Myxiniformes) - helps to produce white blood cells. It is usually most active in
teenagers and shrinks in adulthood.
 Bursa of Fabricius (birds) - is the site of hematopoiesis and is necessary for B cell (part of the
immune system) development
 Peyer’s patches (small intestine of amniotes) - facilitate the generation of an immune response
within the mucosa.
 tonsils (in mammals)
 are paired lymph nodules in the oral cavity
 patches of lymph tissue produce lymphocytes,
 The tonsils protect the throat and respiratory system