CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

FISH

Circulation

The circulation of oxygenated blood is essential for the survival of fish. Blood carries
oxygen, nutrients, and waste. To provide the entire fish's body with blood, the heart
pumps the blood throughout the body. The fish's heart has two chambers, the atrium and
ventricle. The blood pumped from the ventricle first goes to the gills where it picks up
oxygen and disposed of carbon dioxide through the thin capillary walls. The oxygenated
blood gathers in one central artery and then goes to the rest of the body and eventually
goes back to the atrium. From the atrium, it goes to the ventricle and the cycle continues.
With this system, blood flows relatively slowly. The muscle contractions of the fish's
swimming aids in the movement of blood throughout the body.
The circulatory system of fish differ from those of other chordates in that the heart has
only one atrium and one ventricle. Oxygenated blood from the respiratory (gill)
capillaries flows directly into the systemic capillaries without moving through the heart
first .

Since the circulatory system of fish has only one circuit, that is, the blood goes to the gill
capillaries and then the systematic capillaries, it is called a single closed circulatory
system .
INSECTS

The insects has an open circulatory system because the insect’s blood, called
haemolymph, is confined to vessels during only a portion of its circuit. The remainder of
its journey takes place within the body cavity, called haemocoel. One or more hearts
pump the haemolymph through the vessels and into the haemocoel. The haemocoel
contains the soft internal organs and is filled with haemolymph . Here, a chemical
exchange between the haemolymph and the body cells takes place . The haemolymph
flows from the hearts into the haemococoel when the hearts contract . When the hearts
relax, the haemolymph is drawn through pores called ostia back into the hearts. The ostia
are equipped with valves that close when the hearts contract. In insects, exchange of
oxygen and carbon dioxide occurs in the tracheal system. Since the haemolymph plays no
part in gaseous exchange, it is colourless and lacks respiratory pigments.
BIRDS

Bird Circulatory System

The avian heart has evolved into a large and powerful organ with rapid muscular
contractions. Generally the smaller the species the larger the relative heart size. Generally
birds have hearts larger and ones that beat faster than mammals. The human heart weight
amounts to .42 percent of body weight and the pulse rate at rest averages 72 beats per
minute. The House Sparrow's heart constitutes 1.68 percent of the body weight and the
pulse rate at rest averages 460 beats per minute. In the Ruby-throated Hummingbird these
figures rise to 2.37 percent and a pulse rate of 615.
AMPHIBIANS

Amphibians use the buccal cavity, moist skin and lungs to carry out gaseous exchange.
They have a double closed circulatory system consisting of a pulmonary and a systematic
circulatory system. In the pulmonary system, the blood flows from the heart to the lungs
and then back to the heart. In the systematic circulatory system, the blood flows from the
heart to other parts of the body and back to the heart. Amphibians have a three-
chambered heart with two atria and one ventricle which are not separated by a septum.
This results in the mixing of oxygenated with deoxygenated blood in the single ventricle.
The blood contains lower levels of oxygen but is sufficient to meet the cellular
requirements of amphibians. When amphibians for example, frogs are on the land, they
use the lungs for gaseous exchange. However, when the frogs dive under water, they do
not use the lungs for respiration. The ventricle diverts the blood from the lungs to other
body tissues.
MAMMALS
Mammals, including human, have a high metabolic rate. They need a rich supply of
nutrients and oxygen to the tissues. They have a four-chambered heart separated by a
septum. The heart acts as two separate pumps. Mammals have a double closed circulatory
system consisting of the pulmonary and systematic circulations. The blood enters the
heart twice during one complete cycle. The four-chambered heart prevents the mixing of
the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. It supplies adequate oxygen and nutrient rich
blood rapidly to the body tissues. Blood can be maintained at a relatively higher pressure
by the contraction of the thick muscular left ventricle. It allows animals with a four-
chambered heart to attain larger sizes. The separation of the right and left chambers of the
heart also prevents the high blood pressure from damaging the fine blood capillaries of
the lungs. Compared to the left ventricle, the right ventricle is smaller and its wall is less
muscular as it only has to generate a lower pressure to pump blood a short distance to the
lungs.
REPTILE

Most reptiles have closed circulation via a three-chambered heart consisting of two atria,
one variably partitioned ventricle, and two aortas that lead to the systemic circulation.
The degree of mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood in the three-chambered
heart varies depending on the species and physiological state. Under different conditions,
deoxygenated blood can be shunted back to the body or oxygenated blood can be shunted
back to the lungs. This variation in blood flow has been hypothesized to allow more
effective thermoregulation and longer diving times for aquatic species, but has not been
shown to be a fitness advantage.

There are some exceptions to the general physiology. For instance, crocodilians have an
anatomically four-chambered heart, but also have two systemic aortas and are therefore
capable of bypassing only their pulmonary circulation. Also, some snake and lizard
species (e.g., pythons and monitor lizards) have three-chambered hearts that become
functionally four-chambered hearts during contraction. This is made possible by a
muscular ridge that subdivides the ventricle during ventricular diastole and completely
divides it during ventricular systole. Because of this ridge, some of these squamates are
capable of producing ventricular pressure differentials that are equivalent to those seen in
mammalian and avian hearts.