MUSCULAR SYSTEM

They adhere to the objects or surfaces by sticky

mucus secreted by the epidermal glands and do
not swim independently in water. Locomotion is
usually by gliding, with the anterior end forward
and slightly raised. This is accomplished by
backward strokes of the cilia on the ventral
surface, over a slime track produced by the
glands.

Less often worm travels by crawling. This results

from muscular movements; contraction of the
circular muscles elongates the body, the anterior
end is then affixed by mucus, and the posterior
part is drawn up by contraction of the longitudinal
muscles. Differential action of local muscle
groups produces turning or twisting movements.
A moving worm tests its environment by turning
the head region from side to side.

Muscle comes from the Latin word musculus which

means little mouse. It is a body tissue consisting of long cells that
contract when stimulated and produces motion. It is also the
driving force and the power behind movement in most
invertebrates and vertebrates.
1.0 General Functions
Functions:
1.
Movement - cause movement at joints.
2.
Posture adjust the position of the body with respect to
gravity; holds us upright.
3. Joint Stability exerts tension around the joint; allows
movement.
4. Heat production cellular metabolic process; causes blood
to flow to the area heat.
2.0 Types of Movement
LOCOMOTION AND MUSCULAR SYSTEM: Invertebrates

D.

Invertebrate Muscles
Striated muscle appears in invertebrate groups as
cnidarians and arthropods
-

Body wall muscles of nematodes are very

unusual. They lie beneath the hypodermis and
contract longitudinally only. There are no circular
muscles in the body wall. The muscles are
arranged in four bands, or quadrants. Each muscle
cell has a contractile fibrillar portion (or spindle)
and a noncontractile sarcoplasmic portion (cell
body). The spindle is distal and abuts the
hypodermis, and the cell body projects into the
pseudocoel. From each cell body a process or
muscle arm extends either to the ventral or the
dorsal nerve. Though not unique to the
nematodes, the arrangement is very curious; in
most animals nerve processes extend to the
muscle, rather than the other way around.

Their fluid-filled pseudocoel, in which the internal

organs lie, constitutes a hydrostatic skeleton.

Nematodes do not have circular body wall

muscles to antagonize the longitudinal muscles;
therefore the cuticle must serve that function. As
muscles on one side of the body contract, they
compress the cuticle on that side, and the force of
the contraction is transmitted (by the fluid in the
pseudocoel) to the other side of the nematode,
stretching the cuticle on that side. This
compression and stretching of the cuticle serve to
antagonize the muscle and are the forces that
return to the body to resting position when the
muscles relax; this action produces the
characteristic thrashing motion seen in nematode
movement.

Periodic bands that pass across the widths of

muscle cells

Smooth muscles are capable of slow, long-lasting

contractions.

Fibrillar muscle contracts at frequencies; limited

extensibility.

A.

Phylum Porifera
-

Phylum Nematoda

Ciliary and flagellary movement; They depend on

the flagellar beat of their choanocytes to circulate
through their bodies for food gathering and
respiratory gas exchange.
*Choanocytes a continuous inner lining of
flagellated collar cells in loose contact with one
another.

B.

Phylum Coelenterata
-

Epitheliomuscular type of an outer layer of

longitudinal fibers at base of gastroderms;
modifications of this is in more complex
cnidarians, such as separate bundles of
independent fibers in the mesoglea

Unlike colonial polyps, which are permanently

attached, hydras can move about freely by gliding
on a basal disc, aided by mucous secretions.

C.

Using an inchworm movement, they can bend

over and attach tentacles to the substratum. They
may even turn end over end or detach themselves
and, by forming a gas bubble on the basal disc,
float to the surface.

Phylum Platyhelminthes

E.

Phylum Annelida
-

The body wall has strong circular and longitudinal

muscles adapted for swimming, crawling, and is
covered with epidermis and a thin, outer layer of
nonchitinous cuticle.

Setae tiny chitinous bristles that helps in

locomotion

Thin layer of circular muscles and a thicker layer

of longitudinal muscles; there is no skeleton. The

form of the animal is maintained by the elasticity

and contraction of the body wall on the coelomic
fluid within.
-

F.

Arthropods move by using muscles directly to

move adjacent rigid skeletal units. The
exoskeleton provides a solid place for muscles
attachment. Muscles are attached across an
articulating membrane to two rigid limit or body
pieces in antagonistic pairs (extensor and flexor).
Contraction of the flexor muscle draws the distal
unit of the limb inward, and contraction of the
extensor moves the limb outward. Contraction of
these muscles acting across many such joints in
limbs leads to extremely precise and accurate
movement when coordinated by the more highly
evolved nervous system.

Phylum Mollusca
-

H.

Types:

Phylum Arthropods
-

G.

Contraction of the circular muscles elongates the

body, contraction of the longitudinal muscles
shortens it, and local or differential action of these
same muscles produces the bending movements.

Locomotion is via the large flat foot, a

characteristic mollusk feature. The foot is
muscular and has numerous mucous glands and
cilia on its sole.
Locomotion is either by ciliary-mucus movement
or by muscular action. A mucus trail is laid down
and the cilia act upon it to propel the animal
slowly forward.

Locomotion by tube feet, which project from

ambulacral areas, by movement of spines, or by
movement of arms which project from central disc
of body

Water vascular system composed of water-filled

canals provides means in locomotion; contraction
of the muscles comprising the ampullae drives
water into the tube feet, whereas contraction of
the tube feet moves water into the ampullae.

Cardiac muscle-possesses striations like skeletal muscle

but is uninucleate and with branching cells.

Smooth muscle-lacks the characteristic alternating

bands of the striated type.

The propulsive mechanism of a fish is its trunk and tail

musculature. The axial, locomotory musculature is
composed of zigzag bands, called myomeres.
Muscle fibers in each myomere are relatively short and
connect the though connective tissue partitions
(myosepta) that separate each myomere from the next.

Amphibians
Muscles of the limbs are presumably homologous to
radial muscles that move the fins and fishes, but the
muscular arrangement has become so complex in
tetrapod limbs that its exact correspondence with fin
musculature is unclear.
-

Reptiles
-

Bivalve Molluscs adductor muscles; smooth

muscles that gives ability to clam up against the
predators

Skeletal muscle-appears transversely striped (striated)

with alternating dark and light bands.

Fishes
-

Muscular movement is accomplished via one or

more continuous waves of muscular contraction
and expansion moving over the sole of the foot,
each wave serving to move the animal forward a
small-distance.

Phylum Echinodermata

Broadly classified on the basis of the appearance of

muscle cells when viewed with light microscope.

Long hindlimbs and powerful muscles form an efficient

lever system for jumping. Elastic connective tissues and
muscles attach the pectoral girdle to the skull and
vertebral column, and function as shock absorbers for
landing on the forelimbs.
The body is slung low between paired, stocky
appendages, which extend laterally and move in the
horizontal plane
Limbs of other reptiles are more elongate and slender,
and are held closer to the body
In Crocodilians, larger and stronger jaw muscles
permits powerful jaw closure and tail is muscularly
elongated and compressed
In snakes, loss of appendages is accompanied by
greater use of body wall in locomotion; ribs have
muscular connections to large belly scales to aid
movement

Mammals
Appendages are directly beneath the body of most
mammals; the skeleton bears the weight of the body.
Muscle mass is concentrated in the upper appendages
and have little muscle in their lower leg.

Birds
-

The locomotor muscles of wings are relatively massive

to meet demands of flight. Largest of these is the
pectoralis, which depresses the wings in flight. Its
antagonist is the supracoracoideus muscle, which raises
the wing.

LOCOMOTION AND MUSCULAR SYSTEM: Vertebrates

Vertebrates Muscles

Both pectoralis and supracoracoideus are anchored to

the keel. Positioning the main muscle mass low in the
body improved aerodynamic stability.

3.0 MUSCLE STRUCTURE

Embryonic Origin
Mesoderm- this is the embroyonic layer where muscle
tissues are developed.
Skeletal muscles are derived from mesenchymal
myoblasts. It stems from the dermatomyotomes of the
paraxial mesoderm
Myoblast - fused parallel bundles to form
multinucleated cells; myofibrils are seen in the
cytoplasm.
Myotome migrates to form non-segmented muscles
> Epaxial (epimere) extensor muscles of the neck,
vertebral column and lumbar region.
> Hypaxial (hypomere) muscles of the pelvic
diaphragm, anus and sex organs.
Smooth Muscles forms splanchnic mesenchyme
surrounding the gut
Cardiac Muscle forms from splanchnic mesenchyme
around the embryonic heart
Types of Muscles:
Cardiac Muscles
Location: in heart and roofs of large blood vessels only
Shape: elongated; cylindrical that branch
Nuclei: uninucleate; and central
Function: pumping of blood in the circulatory system
Skeletal Muscles
Location: attached to skeletons
Shape: elongated; cylindrical
Nuclei: multinucleated (syncitium); peripheral
Function: contraction for voluntary movements

Functional Characteristics of Muscle Tissue

Excitability - ability to receive and respond to stimulus
Contractility - ability to shorten (forcibly)
Extensibility - ability to be stretched when relaxed
Elasticity - ability to resume to its resting length
I. SKELETAL MUSCLE
- A collection of striated voluntary muscle fibers connected at
either or both extremities with the bony framework of the body;
may be appendicular or axial; histologically, a muscle consisting of
elongated, multinucleated, transversely striated skeletal muscle
fibers together with connective tissues, blood vessels, and nerves
ORIGIN, INSERTION, AND BELLY
Origin (head) fixed or immovable point of attachment.
Insertion- attachment on the movable bone.
- Some muscle have thicker middle region called the Belly.
Orientation of Fascicles
- All skeletal muscle is made up of Fascicles (bundles of fiber). Its
arrangements vary considerably, resulting in muscles with different
shapes and functional capabilities.
Fusiform muscle- thick in the middle and tapered at each end.
Parallel muscle- long, strap-like muscles of uniform width and
parallel.
Convergent muscles- fan-shaped
Pennate muscle- feather-shaped
Circular muscle (spincters)- form rings around body openings
CONNECTIVE TISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH MUSCLES
(1) Connective Tissue Sheaths
Perimysium-surrounds individual fascicles. It contains lots of
blood vessels and nerves that provide nutrients and regulate
contraction.
Endomysium-surrounds individual muscle fibers. Contains tiny
capillaries and individual neurons providing nutrients and
innervation of the muscle fiber.
Epimysium-surrounds the entire muscle.
(2) Connective Tissue Fascia
Deep fascia- connective tissue sheets between adjacent muscle
Superficial fascia- connective tissue sheets between muscles and
skin.

Smooth Muscles
Location: lining the alimentary, respiratory, unorgential;
blood vessels; cilliary muscles of the eye; arrector pill;
in hollow organs
Shape: spindle-shaped; elongated
Nuclei: uninucleate; central
Function: propulsion of substances along internal
passageways

(3) MUSCLE ATTACHMENT TO BONE

Direct (fleshy) attachment- collagen fibers of the epimysium are
continuous with the periosteum of bones.
Indirect attachment- collagen fibers of the epimysium continue as
a tendon that merges into the periosteum of nearby bone.

Gross Organization of Skeletal Muscles

Structure and Organizational Level
Muscles

Description
It consists of hundreds and thousands of muscles cells, connective
tissue wrappings, blood vessels and nerve fibers.

Muscle Fasciculus
Muscle fibers

Bundle of muscle cells covered by a connective tissue sheath

Extremely long, cylindrical, multinucleate cells that reach from one
end of the muscle to the other

Myofibrils

Contain contractile units called sarcomeres; is packed together and

invested by the cell membrane; are rod-like.
Functional unit of the myofibrils.

Sarcomeres

Myosin filament
Ultrastructure of Muscle Fiber
Thick filament - myosin (found in the center along the M-line) It
has a head joined by a flexible hinge region.
Thin filament - actin (found outlined to the z-lines) It is composed
of f-actin which is composed of g-actin subunits.

Composed of many myosin molecules packed together in an elongate

bundle. It is of two types- Thin and thick filaments.
> Troponin - complex of three globular proteins is located at
intervals along the actin filament.
The sarcoplasmic reticulum is a smooth endoplasmic reticulum
surrounding each myofibril.
T-Tubules are infoldings of sarcolemma that conducts electrical
impulses. (Starting from the surface to the terminal cisterns)

> Tropomyosin - lie near the grooves between the actin strands.
Sarcomere- Contractile unit of muscle
A bands
Dark bands where in thick myofilaments are positioned.
I band
Light bands where in only thin myofilaments are positioned.
Z line
Actin is anchored in the Z-lines which are the outer edges of the sarcomere. Darker are that extends along the
thick filaments.
M line
The center of the sarcomere and A band where proteins hold thick filaments in position. Attaches myosin
filaments.
H zone
The region in the middle of the sarcomere where thick filaments are not overlapped by thin filaments. There are
only thick filaments.

NAMING SKELETAL MUSCLES

According to Body parts or region
Pectoral- muscle in the chest
Femoris -muscle in the thigh
Brachii- muscle in the arm
Abdominis- muscle in the abdomen
Gluteus- muscle in the buttock region
According to Relative Location
Inter: between (intercostals)
Lateralis: located to the side or laterally
(vastus lateralis)
Medialis: located toward the middle or midline
(vastus medialis)
Anterior: toward the front or anterior surface
(tibialis anterior or serratus anterior)
Posterior: toward the rear or posterior surface
(tibialis posterior)

According to Direction of fibers

Rectus- straight
Transverse- across
Oblique- slanted or diagonal
Orbicularis- ringlike

According to type of action performed

Abductors- muscle which move a limb away from the
midline of the body.
Flexors- muscle which bend a limb at a joint.
Levators- muscle which lift a part.
Extensors- muscle which straighten a limb at joint.
Adductors- muscle which move a limb towards the
midline.

According to number of heads of origin

Biceps- muscle with 2 heads
Triceps- muscle with 3 heads
Quadriceps- muscle with 4 heads

According to points of attachment

Sternocleidomastoid- Sterno and cleido for its origin,
the sternum and clavicle; and mastoid for its insertion,
the mastoid process
Styloglossus- points of attachment are styloid processes
and tongue

According to shape and size

Delloid- triangular
Trapezius- four-sided
Longus- longest
Maximus- largest
Minimus- smallest
Brevis- short
Fusiform- spindled-shaped
Rhomboid- quadrilateral

According to movement
Prime mover or agonist muscle- execute actual
movement
Antagonist muscle- acts against the prime mover to
perform the action efficiently and smoothly
Fixator muscle- steadies the bone giving origin to the
prime mover so that the insertion will move.

CARDIAC MUSCLE
Cardiac muscle is involuntary
The cells are Y shaped and are shorter and wider than
skeletal muscle cells. They are predominatly
mononucleated.
The arrangement of actin and myosin is similar to
skeletal striated muscle
Cardiac muscle cells have a branched shape so that
each cell is in contact with three of four other cardiac
muscle cells.
Together all of the cardiac muscle cells in the heart
form a giant network connected end to end. At the ends
of each cell is a region of overlapping, finger-like
extensions of the cell membrane known as intercalated
disks.
These intercalated disks allow for communication
between the cardiomyocytes.
Three types of cell junction make up an intercalated
disc: fascia adherens, desmosomes and gap junctions.

Contracts slowly and automatically.

It constitutes much of the musculature of internal
organs and the digestive system.

Two types of smooth muscles:

Multi-unit smooth muscle- fibers are independent of
each other. Innervate individual cells therefore they
allow for fine control and gradual responses. Found in
the large elastic arteries, trachea, and iris of the eye.
Single unit smooth muscle- muscle fibers are arranged
in sheet; cells are joined by tight junction. Muscle
fibers transmit impulses from cell to cell, so it contracts
as a unit. Found in the organs of the digestive and
reproductive system that require peristalsis to move its
content.
4.0 Muscle Physiology

Fascia adherens are anchoring sites for actin, and connect to the
closest sarcomere.

Muscle Contraction

Desmosomes stop separation during contraction by

binding intermediate filaments, joining the cells together.
Desmosomes are also known as macula adherens.

- Muscles contract when the muscle fibers generate tension

through actin and myosin cross-bridge cycling with the help of
motor neurons. Although the term Contraction implies shortening,
muscle contraction does not shorten muscles because tension in the
muscles can be produced without changes in muscle length.

Gap junctions allow action potentials to spread between cardiac

cells by permitting the passage of ions between cells.
The myocardium is considered as one single
functioning unit, the most muscular part of the heart
and mainly responsible for its contractions.
The passage of signals from cell to cell allows cardiac
muscle tissue to contract very quickly in a wave-like
pattern to effectively pump blood throughout the body.
Another feature that is unique to cardiac muscle tissue
is autorhythmicity.
Cardiac muscle tissue is able to set its own contraction
rhythm due to the presence of pacemaker cells that
stimulate the other cardiac muscle cells.
The pacemaker cells normally receive inputs from the
nervous system to increase or decrease the heart rate
depending on the bodys needs. However, in the
absence of nervous system stimulation, the pacemaker
cells can produce a regular heart rhythm.

SMOOTH MUSCLE
Also called involuntary muscle.
It consists of narrow spindle-shaped cells with a single,
centrally located nucleus.
Smooth muscle lacks neuromuscular junctions, but
have varicosities instead, numerous bulbous swellings
that release neurotransmitters to a wide synaptic cleft.
They have a less developed sarcoplasmic reticulum
It has no striations, no sarcomeres, and a lower ratio of
thick to thin filaments when compared to skeletal
muscle.
Has tropomyosin but no troponin
In smooth muscle thick and thin filaments are arranged
diagonally, spiral down the length of the cell, and
contract in a twisting fashion.
Muscle fibers contain longitudinal bundles of
noncontractile intermediate filaments anchored to the
sarcolemma and surounding tissues via dense bodies.

I. Sliding Filament Theory of Muscle Contraction

The Sliding Filament Theory of Muscle Contraction is the
binding of myosin to actin, forming cross-bridges that generate
filament movement. Muscles contract when sarcomeres shorten.
The thick and thin filaments that compose sarcomeres do not
shorten; instead they slide past one another, causing the sarcomere
to shorten while the filaments remain the same length.

Structures involved:
Myofibril - cylindrical organelle running the length of the muscle fiber,
containing Actin and Myosin filaments
Sarcomere - the functional unit of the Myofibril, divided into I, A and H
bands.
Actin - a thin, contractile protein filament, containing Active or
binding sites
Myosin - a thick, contractile protein filament, with protrusions known as
Myosin Heads
Tropomyosin - actin-binding protein which regulates muscle contraction
Troponin - a complex of the three proteins, attached to Tropomyosin

Process of Movement
Myosin is a molecular motor that acts like an active ratchet. Chains of
actin proteins form high tensile passive thin filaments that
transmit the force generated by myosin to the ends of the muscle.
Myosin also forms thick filaments. Each myosin paddles along
an actin filament repeatedly, binding, ratcheting, and letting go,
sliding the thick filament over the thin filament.
ATP binds to myosin and is hydrolyzed by ATPase into ADP and
phosphate. The energy released by this process activates the
myosin head and cocks it into a high-energy, extended position.
The cocked myosin head binds to a newly-exposed active site on the thin
filament, generating a cross-bridge between the actin and myosin.
Myosin releases the ADP and phosphate, returning to a low-energy
position, pulling the thin filament along; this movement is called a
power stroke. Shortening occurs when the extensible region pulls

the filaments across each other (like the shortening of a spring).

Myosin remains attached to the actin.
The binding of ATP destabilizes the myosin-actin bond, allowing myosin
to detach from actin. While detached, ATP hydrolysis occurs,
recharging the myosin head. If the actin-binding sites are still
available, myosin can bind with actin again.
The collective bending of numerous myosin heads (all in the same
direction), combine to move the actin filament relative to the
myosin filament. This results in muscle contraction.
Although smooth muscle contraction is similar to
skeletal muscle contraction, there are a few differences.
The cross-bridges in smooth muscle contraction remain
in the attached state longer, so it uses less ATP to
maintain a high level of force in smooth muscle than in
skeletal muscle. Smooth muscle does not contain
troponin. Instead, it contains thin filament protein
tropomyosin and other notable proteins - caldesmon
(calmodulin binding protein) and calponin (calcium
binding protein). The phosphorylation of caldesmon
and calponin by various kinases, which is dependent
upon calcium binding to calmodulin, plays a role in
smooth muscle contraction. When calcium binds to
calmodulin, it activates a signalling cascade (myosin
light-chain kinase) that results in myosin
phosphorylation, which then initiate contraction.
In invertebrate smooth muscle, contraction is initiated
with calcium directly binding to myosin and then
rapidly cycling cross-bridges generating forces.
Sliding Filament Model
A model proposed to explain the Sliding Filament
Theory
When a sarcomere contracts, the Z-lines move closer
together and the I band gets smaller. The A-band stays
the same width and, at full contraction, the thin filament
overlaps.
II. Biochemistry of Muscle Contraction
- Muscle contraction is initiated when all the cells in the bundle
(simultaneously) receive a signal from their motor nerve in the
form of an action potential.
Action Potential - a transient electrical polarization of
the cell membrane that is propagated to a region of the
cell membrane where there is a special connection (T
tubule) to the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
Sarcoplasmic Reticulum - an organelle in the interior
of the muscle cell that sequesters (accumulates) calcium
ions.
1. Action Potential is propagated through the
Sarcolemma, then to the T tubule. At the T
tubule, the action potential is then spread out
to the T tubule membrane and into the
interior of the muscle cell near the ends of
Sarcoplasmic Reticulum.
2. T tubules depolarize, thus opening up
calcium ion channels on the sarcoplasmic
reticulum, which in turn increases the
permeability of calcium ions on the
sarcoplasmic reticulum.
3. Calcium ions are diffused into the
Sarcoplasm
4. Tropomyosin connects to two sides of
actin, covering up sites where myosin can
bind to actin myofilament, and troponin are
attached to the tropomyosin. Calcium ion
binds to tropomyosin, changing the
conformation of troponin and move the

tropomyosin. This opens up the myosin

binding sites on the actin, allowing the
myosin heads to bind and create crossbridges used for muscle contraction
5. As soon as the sarcoplasmic reticulum has
released its calcium contents, and the action
potential has dissipated, the sarcoplasmic
reticulum begins pumping calcium ions back
into its interior from the cytoplasm. It
consumes ATP for this pumping process
although not anywhere near as much ATP as
is used by myosin for muscle cell
contraction.
6. When the muscle cell has completed
contraction, the cytoplasmic calcium
concentration has dropped to normal levels,
and troponin and tropomyosin have
converted
back
to
their
normal
conformation. This prevents binding of thick
filaments to thin filaments and allows the
muscle cell to relax back to its normal length
(i.e., to elongate).
- Muscle cells require large amounts of ATP. Mitochondria are
cellular organelles, which specialize in the production of ATP
under aerobic conditions. Ideally, muscle cells have large
quantities of carbohydrate, typically in the form of glycogen. As
needed, glycogen is converted into three-carbon sugars in the
cytoplasm by way of the citric acid cycle, which produces small
amounts of ATP. The three-carbon sugars are then consumed by the
mitochondria to produce much larger quantities of ATP. Since, the
muscle cell uses so much ATP for each contraction cycle, it stores
some of the ATP energy in its cytoplasm in the form of creatine
phosphate, which can be easily and quickly converted back into
ATP
III. Motor Unit
- The motor unit is the functional unit of muscle contraction and
includes the motor nerve fiber and the muscle fibers it innervates
- A motor unit consists of the motor neuron (one somatic efferent)
and the grouping of muscle fibers (cells) innervated through the
connection. After an efferent axon enters the muscle, it branches
and forms synapses with a number of muscle fibers. However there
is no overlap in the innervation of the muscle fibers by different
efferent neurons. Each individual muscle fiber is connected to only
one efferent neuron.
- All fibers of the motor unit are of the same type and all fibers
contract upon activation of a motor unit.
- The number of muscle fibers within a motor unit varies, and is a
function of the muscle's ability for accurate and refined motion.
- Precision is inversely proportional to the size of the motor unit.
- Groups of motor units are innervated to coordinate contraction of
a whole muscle and generate appropriate movement.
-The number of muscle fibers within each unit can vary within a
particular muscle and still more widely from muscle to muscle.
- The muscles that act on the largest body masses have motor units
that contain most of the muscle fibers.
- Smaller muscles consist of less muscle fibers in each unit.
Types:
a. Type I
- very resistant to fatigue because they are nourished with an
extensive blood supply to maintain aerobic metabolism
- slow-twitch oxidative
- the first motor units recruited by the central nervous system when
a muscle is actuvated, and continue to be recruited as long as the
muscle remain active
- well-adapted for low intensity work
b. Type II

- fast-twitch motor units

- recruited after Type I motor units to provide short bursts, or
phases, of higher muscle tension as required (phasic motor unit)
- have two subcategories:
> Type IIb - they are very prone to fatigue, but produce the most
force when stimulated. These are the last motor unit recruited
when a muscle gets activated, and the first to stop being recruited
when the force from a muscle is no longer needed
> Type IIa - The immediate motor units. Their peak force and their
resistance to fatigue fall between Type I and Type IIb. They are
also recruited after Type I but before Type IIb, and stop being
activated after Type IIb but before Type I.
- An individual muscle contains all three types of motor units. This
provides each muscle with the ability to produce an increased force
output from a low level to a high level, and it also provides each
muscle with a certain degree of muscular endurance.
- Greater percentage of Type I fibers means the muscle has better
endurance capability.
- Greater percentage of Type IIb fibers means the muscle has better
power capability.
Recruitment of Motor Units:
Motor unit recruitment depends on the force/resistance of the
exercise. With light intensity exercise, the Type I motor units are
recruited. Increase in load permits Type IIa (fast twitch) to be
recruited. When the load becomes even greater, the Type IIa will
be recruited with the help of the two motor units recruited earlier.
Therefore Type I motor units are always firing no matter what the
intensity.
Henneman's Size Principle
- States hat under load, motor units are recruited from smallest to
largest. This means that slow-twitch, low-force, fatigue-resistant
muscle fibers are activated before fast-twitch, hih-force, less
fatigue-resistant muscle fibers.
- With this, the amount of fatigue an organism experienxe will be
minimize by using fatigue-resistant muscle fibers first and only
using fatigable fibers when high forces are needed.
IV. All-Or-None Response
- The all-or-none law is a principle that states that the activation of
individual muscle or nerve cells, where the response to stimuli
(depolarisation) only occurs above a certain threshold. If the
stimulus exceeds the threshold potential, the nerve or muscle fiber
will give a complete response; otherwise, there is no response.
Essentially, there will either be a full response or there will be no
response at all.
- Each time a neuron fires, it does so with the same level of
intensity, and that the action potential will stay the same size all the
way down the axon.
- It applies to a single muscle fiber and not to the entire muscle
V. Types of Muscle Contraction:
Tension - force exerted by the muscle on an object
Load - force exerted by object on a muscle
A. Isometric Contraction
- Contraction which generate force without changing the length of
the muscle. This is typical of muscles found in the hands and
forearms: muscles do not change length, and joints are not moved,
so force for grip is sufficient.
B. Isotonic Contraction
- Maintain constant tension in the muscle as muscle changes
length. This only occurs when a muscle's maximal force of
contraction exceeds the total load on the muscle.
> Concentric Contraction
- In this type, the muscles shorten while generating force. It also
alters the angle of the joints to which the muscles are attached.
This contraction is due to the sliding filament mechanism.
> Eccentric Contraction

- The muscle elongates while under tension due to opposing force

(external load) which is greater than the force generated by the
muscle. This contraction can either be voluntary or involuntary.
Graded Muscle Responses:
(1) Simple Muscle Twitch
- Muscle contracts and relaxes in response to a stimulus that causes
an action potential on the muscle fibers.
- Stages of Muscle Twitch:
1. The Latent Period
- Defined as the time it takes the muscle to react to the stimulus
- It begins at stimulation and typically lasts about 0.02 seconds.
- The action potential sweeps across the sarcolemma and the
sarcoplasmic reticulum releases calcium ions. The muscle fiber
does not produce tension during the latent period, because the
contraction cycle has yet to begin.
2. The Contraction Phase
- It is the time where the muscle is actually contracting.
- Tension rises to a peak. As tension rises, calcium ions are binding
to troponin, active sites on thin filaments are being exposed, and
cross-bridge interactions are occurring.
- The contraction phase ends roughly 0.04 seconds after
stimulation
- This is responsible for the sliding of actin and myosin past each
other which results to contraction of sarcomere.
3. The Relaxation Phase
- The last period from when the muscle length returns back to
normal.
- It continues for about another 0.05 seconds.
- Calcium levels are falling, active sites are being covered by
tropomyosin, and the number of active cross-bridges is declining.
- This results in the relaxation.
(2) Wave Summation
- Stimuli are delivered more frequently, so the muscle does not
have time to completely relax. This increases the muscle
contraction. With rapid stimulation, a muscle fiber is re-stimulated
while there is still some contractile activity. As a result, there is a
summation of the contractile force. In addition, with rapid
stimulation, there isn't enough time between successive
stimulations to remove all the calcium from the sarcoplasm. So,
with several stimulations in rapid succession, calcium levels in the
sarcoplasm increase. More calcium means more active crossbridges and, therefore, a stronger contraction.
(3) Tetanus (Lockjaw)
- Occurs when the muscle fiber is stimulated so rapidly it does not
have time to relax at all between stimuli. It has the highest force of
muscle contraction.
Unfused / Incomplete Tetanus - the peaks of individual twitches
can still be determine
Fused / Complete Tetanus - the stimuli are spaced sufficiently
close; smooth continuous contraction without any evidence of
relaxation
(4) Staircase (Treppe) Effect
- A gradual step-like increase in the strength of contraction that can
be observed in a series of twitch contractions that occur about 1
second apart
- When muscle cells are initially stimulated when cold, they will
exhibit gradually increasing responses until they have warmed up.
- It is due to the increasing availability of Ca2+ in the sarcoplasm more Ca 2+ ions exposed, more active sites on the thin filaments
for cross bridges attachment.
- As the muscle begins to work and liberates heat, its enzymes
become more efficient and the muscle becomes more pliable.
VI. Neuromuscular Junction

- The site of communication between motor neurons and skeletal

muscle fibres. This is where the synaptic bulb of an axon terminal
and muscle fiber connect. It connects the nervous system to the
muscular junction via synapses. This results in muscle contraction.
Axon- these are the long processes of neurons.
- When the axon of motor neuron travels and enters the muscle it
forms a lot of branches called axon terminals.
Synaptic end bulb it is found at the end of each axon terminal.
Synaptic vesicles- contain chemical neurotransmitters called
Acetylcholine (or abbreviated as Ach)
Motor end plate- it is the part closest to the synaptic end bulb.
Synaptic cleft it is the area between the axon terminal and the
sarcolemma.
Synapse- the tiny gap where in nerve impulses passes from one
neuron to another.

- Schwann cells are essential for the development and maintenance

of the neuromuscular junction and play important roles in the
remodelling and regeneration of damaged neuromuscular
junctions.

- Specialisations of the neuromuscular junction mean that activity

in and release of transmitter from motor neurons produces
contraction of skeletal muscle fibres rapidly and reliably.

VII. Excitation-Contraction Coupling

- Excitation-Contraction Coupling is a term used to describe the
connection between the electrical action potential and the
mechanical muscle contraction. It is the physiological process of
converting an electrical stimulus from neurons into a mechanical
response, in which the electrical stimulus is an action potential and
the desired mechanical response is contraction.

- The neuromuscular junction comprises four cell types: the motor

neuron, terminal Schwann cell, skeletal muscle fibre and
kranocyte, with the motor neuron and muscle fibre separated by a
gap called the synaptic cleft.
- The motor nerve terminal contains synaptic vesicles, filled with
neurotransmitter, which release their transmitter into the synaptic
cleft at multiple specialised sites called active zones, in response to
action potential firing.
- Released transmitter acts at receptors on the muscle membrane,
which occur in highdensity clusters at the peaks of muscle
membrane infoldings called junctional folds.
- Junctional folds are unique to the neuromuscular junction,
increasing the reliability of transmission by localisation of
acetylcholine receptors to the crests of the folds and enhancing the
effect of depolarisation by localisation of sodium channels in the
troughs.
The Invertebrate Nervous System
FUNCTIONS:

To receive information from internal and external

environment.

To encode and transmit and process impulses for

appropriate action.

To coordinate and integrate the function of cells,

tissues and organ systems so that they act
harmoniously as a unit.
NEURON/ NERVE CELL

the structural and functional unit of the nervous

system.

produce signals that can be communicated from

one part of animal's body to another.
THREE PRINCIPAL PARTS

Cell Body/ Soma - central part of the neuron.

Dendrite - conducts signal toward the cell body.

Axons - conducts signal away from the cell body.

THREE FUNCTIONAL TYPES OF NEURON

Afferent Neuron (Sensory) - transmit

information from the environment to central
nervous system.

Interneuron -integrating centers and receives

signals from sensory neuron to transmit them to
motor neuron.

Efferent Neuron (Motor) - send processed

information from central nervous system to
effectors and gland.

- Acetylcholinesterase in the synaptic cleft hydrolyses

acetylcholine and limits the temporal and spatial effects of released
of acetylcholine, ensuring precision of muscle control.
- Transmitter binding causes two types of electrical signals in
skeletal muscle, miniature endplate potentials caused by the
spontaneous release of a single vesicle of acetylcholine and larger
endplate potentials. Endplate potentials are caused by activity
dependent release of multiple transmitterfilled vesicles and trigger
action potential firing in, and thus contraction of, the muscle fibre.

1. Acetylcholine is released by the axonal ending, diffuses to the

muscle cell, and attaches to the ACh receptors on the sarcolemma.
2. An action potential is generated along the sarcolemma and
travels down the T tubule
3. Calcium ions are released in the sarcoplasmic reticulum due to
the chabge in voltage
4. Calcium ions bind troponin; cross bridges form between actin
and myosin
5. Acetylcholinesterase removes ACh from the synaptic cleft
6. Calcium ions are transported back into the sarcoplasmic
reticulum
7. Tropomyosin binds active sites on actin causing the cross bridge
to detach

Myelin Sheath- laminated lipid sheath. Hydras and sea

anemones do not have myelinated sheath.
Neurolemmocyte (Schwann Cells)- wraps the myelin
sheath in layers.
Neurofibril nodes (Nodes of Ranvier)- segment the
myelin sheath at regular intervals.
Glial Cells- supporting cells of nervous system.
Astrocytes- provide nourishment to neurons.
Oligodendrocytes- provide support to axons and to
produce the Myelin sheath.
Microglia- protect the brain from invading
microorganisms.

NATURE OF NERVE IMPULSES

Nerve Impulse/Nerve Signals/Action Potential
- A language (signal) and an electro-chemical message of neurons.
- An impulse is an "all-or-none" phenomenon: either the fiber is
conducting an impulse or not. Impulses are alike; the only way a
nerve fiber can vary it signals is by changing the frequency of
impulse conduction. The higher the frequency the greater is the
level of excitation.
RESTING MEMBRANE POTENTIAL
- A resting neuron is not conducting a nerve impulse.
- A membrane of neurons have selective permeability that creates
ionic imbalance across membrane. This is the basis of resting
membrane potential and change in imbalance generates signal.
- The interstitial fluid surrounding neurons contain high
concentration of NaCl but low concentration of potassium ion and
large impermeable anions with negative charge such as proteins.

Inside, the neuron is reversed. These differences are pronounced;

approximately 10 times more Na outside than inside and 25-30
times more K inside than outside.
- Resting membrane is usually -70mv with inside membrane
negative.
ACRTION POTENTIAL
- Rapidly moving change in electrical membrane potential.
- The most significant property of nerve action potential is, it is
self propagating.
- resting membrane potential depends on the high permeability to
K+, 50 to 70 times greater than permeability to Na+.
- Upon depolarization, the membrane potential suddenly changes
from about -70 to +30mv, and then rapidly returns to resting level.
-Increased potassium permeability causes the action potential to
drop rapidly toward the resting membrane potential during the
repolarization phase.
SYNAPSES: JUNCTION BETWEEN NERVES
Synapse - a gap separating neuron to another neuron.
TWO DISTINCT TYPES OF SYNAPSES:
Electrical Synapses
- Much less common than chemical synapse.
-demonstrated in both invertebrate and vertebrate
groups.
-points at which ionic currents flow directly across a
narrow gap junction from one neuron to another.
-important for escape reactions.
- observed in other excitable types and form an
important method of communication between cardiac muscle cells
of the heart and smooth muscle cells.
Chemical Impulses
- contain packets of specialized chemicals called
"neurotransmitters".
- Presynaptic neurons- neurons bringing impulses
toward chemical synapses.
- Postsynaptic neurons- those carrying impulses away.
-At a synapse, membranes are separated by a narrow gap called
synaptic cleft, having a width of approxiamately 20nm.

- synaptic vesicles- a small secretory vesicle that contains a

neurotransmitter. It can be found inside an axon near the
presynaptic membrane and releases its contents into synaptic cleft
after fusing with the membrane.
- excitory synapse - a place where depolarized postsynaptic
membranes are released.
- inhibitory synapes - where moved resting membrane potential is
stabilized against depolarization is released.
INVERTEBRATES: DEVELOPMENT OF CENTRALIZED
NERVOUS SYSTEM
GENERAL EVOLUTIONARY TRENDS IN NERVOUS
SYSTEM
1. More complex animals possess more detailed nervous systems.
Phylum Cnidaria- simplest form of nervous organization, these
invertebrate animals have nerve net.
Examples: hydras, sea anemones and jellyfishes.
Phylum Echinodermata- has nerve nets but increasing complexity.
Examples: sea stars, sea urchins and sea anemones.
2. In Cephalization, the concentration of receptors and nervous
tissue in the animal's anterior end.
Platyhelminthes- contains ganglia and distinct lateral nerve cords.
Example: flatworms
3. Bilateral Symmetry- a body plan with roughly equivalent right
and left halves.
Platyhelminthes- bilobed mass of ganglion cells.
Phylum Annelida- example: earthworm
Phylum Arthropoda- examples: crustacean, insects, spider and
centipedes.
Phylum Mollusca- examples: squid, snails, clams and octopus.
4. The more complex an animal, the more interneuron it has. The
more interneuron, the more complex behavior patterns an animal
can perform.
Phylum Echinodermata- nervous system is divided into several
parts.
Example: starfish
5. Consequence of increasing number of interneuron.

NERVOUS SYSTEM OF INVERTEBRATES

INVERTEBRATE
NERVOUS SYSTEM STRUCTURE
Phylum Cnidaria
Simple nerve nets
Phylum Ctenophora
Simple nerve nets/plexus

EXAMPLES
Jellyfishes, Hydras, Sea Anemones
Comb jellies

Platyhelminthes

Flatworms

Phylum Nematoda
Phylum Annelida
Phylum Arthropoda
Phylum Echinodermata
Phylum Mollusca

Longitudinal nerve cords; Bilobed mass

of ganglion cells
Nerve ring around pharynx; longitudinal
nerve cords
Dorsal anterior cerebral ganglia; double
ventral nerve cord; nerve ring
Dorsal cerebral ganglia; ventral nerve
cords
Nerve net; Nerve ring; Radial nerves
Visceral Nerve Cords; Pedal Nerve Cords,

The Vertebrate Nervous System

The basic organization of the nervous system is similar
in all vertebrates. A notochord and a tubular nerve cord
characterize the evolution of the vertebrate nervous system. A
notochord is a rod of mesodermally derived tissue encased in a
firm sheath that lies ventral to the neural tube. It is first appeared in
marine chordates and is present in all vertebrate embryos but
absent in adults. During embryological development, vertebrae
serially arranged into vertebral column replaced the notochord. A
related character in the vertebrate evolution was the development
of a single tubular nerve cord above the notochord. During early
evolution, the nerve cord underwent expansion, regional
modification, and specialization into a spinal cord and brain. Over

Roundworms
Earthworms
Crustacean, Insects, Centipedes
Starfish, Sea Urchin
Squid, Octopus

time, the anterior end thickened variably with nervous tissue and
functionally divided into the hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain.
Division of the Nervous System
1.
Central Nervous System composed of brain and
spinal cord
2.
Peripheral Nervous System composed of all nerves of
the body outside the brain and spinal cord.
2 Group of nerves
1.
Afferent Nerves (sensory) transmit information to the
central nervous system
2.
Efferent Nerves (motor) carry commands away from
the central nervous system
The motor nerves are divided into the:

1.

Somatic Nervous System (voluntary) relays command

to the skeletal muscles
2.
Autonomic Nervous System (involuntary) stimulates
other muscles such as smooth and cardiac muscle and
glands of the body
The Nerves of the Autonomic Nervous System is divided into:
1.
Sympathetic Nervous System responsible or the
fight-or-flight response
2.
Parasympathetic Nervous System functions during
relaxation
The Spinal Cord

It is the connecting link between the brain and most of

the body and it is involve in spinal reflex actions

Reflex involuntary response to a stimulus

The Gray Matter
Consists of cells and dendrites and is concerned mainly
with reflex connections at various levels of the spinal
cord
The White Matter
Consists of myelinated axons of motor and sensory
neurons
Protection of the Spinal Cord
1.
Meninges three layers of protective membrane that
surrounds the spinal cord
2.
Dura Mater outer layer, tough fibrous membrane
3.
Arachnoid middle layer, delicate and connects to the
innermost layer
4.
Pia Mater innermost layer, contains small blood
vessels that nourish the spinal cord
Spinal Nerves
Directly related to the number of segments in the trunk
and tail of a vertebrate
The Brain
Develops at the anterior end of the spinal cord and
controls everything in the body
During embryonic development, the brain undergoes
regional expansion as a hollow tube of nervous tissue
that forms and developed into the hindbrain, midbrain
and forebrain.
The Hindbrain

It is continuous with the spinal cord and includes the

medulla oblongata, cerebellum and pons

Medulla Oblongata contains reflex center for

breathing, swallowing, cardiovascular function and
gastric secretion

Cerebellum coordinates motor activity associated

with limb movement maintaining posture and spatial
orientation

10

Phylum
Pons a bridge of transvers nerve tracts from the
Fishescerebrum of the forebrain to both sides of cerebellum
Amphibians
The Midbrain

A center for coordination reflex responses to visual

Mammals
input.and Birds

As the brain evolved it took an added functions relating

to the tactile (touch) and auditory

The Forebrain

Paired of Cranial Nerves

Cranial Nerve
Olfactor (I)
Optic (II)
Oculomotor (III)
Trachlear (IV)
Trigeminal (V)
Abducens (VI)
Facial (VII)
Auditory (VIII)
Glossopharyngeal
(IX)
Vagus (X)
Spinal Accessory (XI)
Hypoglossal (XII)

Cerebellum

Just anterior to the midbrain lie the thalamus and

Large In activehypothalamus
swimmers and small in inactive swimmers
Have rudimentary
cerebellum
because
theirstation
simplethat
locomotor

Thalamus
is the
majorofrelay
analyze and
movement
passes sensory information to higher brain centers
Larger because
of complex locomotor
patterns centers that regulate

Hypothalamus
housekeeping
body temperature, water balance, appetite and thirst

2 Hemisphere of the Brain

1.
Left hemisphere - for language development,
mathematics and learning
2.
Right Hemisphere spatial, musical etc

Function
Sense: smell
Sense: vision
Motor: nerve to extrinsic eye muscle
Motor: extrinsic eye muscle
Mixed nerve: sensory from skin, head and mouth
Motor: extrinsic eyeball muscles
Mixed nerve: sensory to lateral line of head
Sensory: from the inner ear
Sensory: taste, touch and movements of the pharynx

Mixed nerve: lungs, heart, digestive system and gills

Motor: muscles of pharynx, larynx and neck
Motor: movements of toungue

#s XI and XII are lacking in amphibians, fishes and cyclostomes

Types of Response

Response

Taxis

Positive Rheotaxis

Negative Geotaxis
Photopositive
Photonegative
Monosynaptic
Reflex
Polysynaptic
Reflex

response by which and animal orients itself toward or away from a given stimulus
a fish that heads into a current so that the 2 sides of its body are stimulated equally by
flowing water
an insect that climbs upward in position to gravity
a moth that flies directly to a light
a cockroach that scuttles for cover when spotted by a light at night
it involves only an afferent and efferent neuron and a single synapse. Ex. Knee jerk

Allied Reflexes

Chain Reflexes

having one or more interneurons between the sensory and motor pathways. Ex. Winking
of eyelids, sudden secretion of tears
combined to produce a harmonious effect such as walking in mammals, crawling of
earthworms and caterpillars
It acts in sequence, the response of one becoming the stimulus of the next.

SENSORY RECEPTORS
Specialized receptors designed for detecting environmental status and change
Help maintain homeostasis
A stimulus is any form of energy (electrical, chemical, mechanical, etc.) an animal can detect with its receptors
Receptors are biological transducers (to change over); they convert one form of energy into another

CLASSIFICATION OF RECEPTORS BASED ON LOCATION

Exterocep
tors
Interocep
tors
Proprioce
ptors

Any receptor that detects external stimuli

Any receptor that detects stimuli from the internal environment of an organism

Sensitive to changes in tension of muscles and provides sense of body position

CLASSIFICATION OF RECEPTORS BASED ON THE FORM OF ENERGY TO WHICH IT RESPONDS

RECEP
TOR

FUNCTION

11

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Barorec
eptors
Chemo
recepto
rs
Georec
eptors
Hygror
eceptor
s
Phonor
eceptor
s
Photore
ceptors
Proprio
ceptors
Tactile
recepto
rs
Therm
orecept
ors

Sense changes in pressure

Respond to chemicals

Respond to force of gravity; Gives information about its orientation relative to up and down

Detect the water content of air

Respond to sound

Sensitive respond to light

stretch receptor; respond to mechanically induced changes caused by stretching, compression, bending, or
tension

Touch receptors

Respond to temperature changes

NOTE: Tactile receptors, Proprioceptors, Phonoreceptors, and Georeceptors may be classified under Mechanoreceptionin that
these receptors, in short, respond to motion.
SENSORY RECEPTORS IN THE INVERTEBRATE PHYLA
Phylum Porifera
Sponges have no nervous system or organs like most animals do. This means they dont have eyes, ears or the ability to
physically feel anything.
However, they do have specialized cells that carry out different functions within their bodies for movement, or for filtrating
small organisms.
Phylum Cnidaria
Sensory structures of cnidarians are distributed throughout the body and include receptors for perceiving touch and certain
chemicals
Specialized receptors are located at the tentacles of polyp (coral) or medusa (jellyfish)
Specialized sense organs for monitoring gravity and low-frequency vibrations often appear as statocysts. A statocyst is a
simple sac lined with hair cells and containing a solid granule called a statolith. The delicate, hairlike filaments of sensory
cells are activated by the shifting position of the statolith when the animal changes position.
Phylum Platyhelminthes
Cephalization a trait related to a flatworms sense organ. Organisms with cephalization have a defined head area. This
adaptation allows organisms to concentrate their sensory organs towards the front of their bodies, allowing them to
preferentially sense the area in front of them rather than the area behind them
Eyespots flatworms have prominent eyespots.
o
Consist of a single layer of photosensitive cells.
o
The photosensitive cells contain a pigment that reacts to light, and signal nerve cells when they do so.
o
Have no lenses to focus images; cannot produce images. Instead, the eyespots can only tell light from dark
Phylum Nematoda
Sensory papillae are concentrated around the head and tail.
o
Amphids one of a pair of anterior sense organs in certain nematodes. Modified cilia serve as the sensory
endings. Amphids are thought to be chemoreceptors.
o
Phasmids similar to amphids, but have fewer nerve endings.
Phylum Annelida
Photoreceptors sensitive to light are present in earthworm. The earthworm Lumbricus, have simple unicellular
photoreceptor cells scattered over the epidermis or concentrated in particular areas of the body.
Most polychaetes react negatively to increased light intensities. However, fanworms react negatively to decreasing light
intensities. If shadows cross them, fanworms retreat into their tube.
Tactile receptors are sensitive to mechanically induced vibrations propagated through water or solid substrate.
o
Statocysts are in the head region of polychaetes,
o
ciliated tubercles, ridges, and bands, all of which contain receptors for tactile senses, cover the body wall
o
A heat-sensing mechanism draws leeches and ticks to warm-blooded hosts.
Phylum Mollusca
Sensual information that is acquired by sense cells dispersed over the snails outer skin. Those sense cells are especially
concentrated on the head, the tentacles, and the lips.

12

Cephalopod mollusks have eyes much like those of vertebrates. The complex camera eyes of squids and octopuses are the
best image-forming eyes among the invertebrates.
o
Cephalopod and Vertebrate eyes compared:
o
CEPHALOPOD
o
VERTEBRATE
EYE
o
Both eyes contain a thin transparent cornea and a lens that focuses light on the
retina and is suspended by, and controlled by, ciliary muscles.
The receptor sites on the retinal layer face in
The retinal layer is inverted, and the
one direction of light entering the eye.
receptors are the deepest cells in the
retina.
o
Both eyes are focusing and image-forming, although the process differs in
detail
Light is focused by muscles that move the
Muscle that alter the shape (thickness)
lens toward or away from the retina , and by
of the lens focus light.
altering the shape of the eyeball.
o
Among arthropods there are both simple and compound
Phylum Arthropoda
eyes. Arthropod compound eyes are composed of
Responses to pressure changes have been
many independent visual units called ommatidia. Eyes
of bees, for example.
identified in crustaceans, ctenophores,
o
Many insects have color vision;
jellyfish medusa, and squids. Some
crustaceans coordinate migratory activity
honeybees can use ultraviolet
with daily tidal movements, possibly
light to see nectar guides in
response to pressure changes accompanying
flowers. Honeybees learn to
water depth changes.
recognize particular flowers by
Insect chemoreceptors are located in sensory
color, scent, and shape. Many
flying insects also detect
hairs called sensilla. Taste sensilla occur on
polarized light and use it to
the mouthparts, legs, wing margins, and
navigate through their
ovipositor in females. Olfactory sensilla
environments.
occur on the head on two pairs of olfactory
o
Resolution (the ability to see
organs: the antennae and the maxillary
objects sharply) is poor
palps.
compared with that of a
Some insects produce species-specific
vertebrate eye. A fruit fly, for
compounds, called pheromones.
example, must be closer than 3
Pheromones are diverse group of organic
cm to see another fruit fly as
compounds that an animal releases to affect
anything but a single spot.
the behavior of another individual of the
Proprioceptors have been most thoroughly studied in
same species. Information regarding
arthropods, where they are associated with appendage
territory, societal hierarchy, sex, and
joints and body extensor muscles
reproductive state are transmitted via this
o
Crayfish stretch receptors are
system. Ants, for example, produce releaser
pheromones, such as alarm and trail
neurons attached to muscles.
pheromones, and primer pheromones, which
When the crayfish arches its
alter endocrine and reproductive systems of
abdomen while swimming, the
different castes in a colony.
stretch receptor detects the
Some insects have hygroreceptors that can
change in muscle length. When
the muscle is stretched, so is the
detect small changes in the ambient relative
receptor.
humidity. This sense enables them to seek
8.
Phylum Echinodermata
environments with a specific humidity or to
Because many echinoderms of this group
modify their behavior with respect to the
ambient humidity (e.g., to control the
have only simple nervous system without a
opening or closing of spiracles). Variety of
controlling brain, they are limited in their
hygrosensory structures have identified on
actions and responses to stimuli.
the antennae, palps, underside of the body,
They have nerves running from mouth into
and near the spiracles of insects.
each arm or along the body.
Crickets, grasshoppers, and cicadas possess
They have tiny eyespots at the end of each
phonoreceptors called tympanic or
arm which only detect light or dark
tympanal organs. This organ consists of a
Some of their tube feet, are also sensitive to
tough, flexible tympanum that covers an
chemicals and this allows them to find the
internal sac that allows the tympanum to
source of smells, such as food.
vibrate when sound waves strike it.
The statocyst is useful for telling the animal
o
Most arachnids possess
whether it is upside down or not. An upsidephonoreceptors in their cuticle
down echinoderm is in danger since its belly
called slit sense organs that can
is not protected by its spiny skin.
sense sound-induced vibrations.
o
Taste
o
Centipedes have organs of
o
Chemoreceptor: Gustation (L,
Tomsvary, which is believed to
gustus, taste)
be sensitive to sound.
o
The tongue is covered with many
papillae, which give the tongue

7.

13

its bumpy appearance. In the

crevices between the papillae are
thousands of specialized
receptors called taste buds.
o
o

o
o

o
o

o
o
o

Taste buds are short-lived

because they are usually
subjected to wear and tear by
abrasive foods. For some
mammals, they usually lasted 5
to 10 days only, so its a good
thing that they are continually
being replaced. Bitter Taste is the
most sensitive, because it
provides early warning against
potentially dangerous substances,
many of which are bitter.
The four generally recognized
taste sensations are sweet, sour,
bitter, and salty. Each is
attributable to different kind of
taste bud.
Vertebrates, other than mammals,
may have taste buds on other
parts of the body. For example,
reptiles and birds do not usually
have taste buds on the tongue;
instead, most taste buds are in the
pharynx.
TOUCH
Tactile (touch) receptors are
generally derived from
modifications of epithelial cells
associated with sensory neurons.
Most tactile receptors are
sensitive to mechanically
induced vibrations transmitted
through water or a solid
substrate. Web-building spiders
have tactile receptors that can
sense struggling prey in webs
through vibrations of the web
threads. Progressively stronger
stimuli will lead to stronger
receptor potentials until a
threshold current is produced;
this current will initiate an action
potential in the sensory nerve
fiber. Stronger stimuli will
produce a burst of action
potentials. However, if the
pressure is sustained, response
slowly diminishes. This response
is called adaptation (not to be
confused with the evolutionary
meaning of this term).
Pain is a distress call from the
body signaling some noxious
stimulus or internal disorder.
Pain receptors are present
throughout the body of
mammals, except for the brain
and intestines. These nerve
endings are also called
nociceptors (L. no-cere, to injure
_ receptor). Severe heat, cold,

irritating chemicals, and strong

mechanical stimuli (e.g.,
penetration) may elicit a response
from nociceptors that the brain
interprets as pain or itching.
o
o

o
o
o
o

o
o
o
o

o
o
o

o
o

Thermoreceptors, sensors for

temperature, may be present in
either the epidermis or dermis.
Mammals have different areas
sensitive to warm or coldwarm
or cold spots. The ability to
detect changes in temperature has
become well developed in a
number of animals. Snakes use
these pit organs to locate warmblooded prey
Lateral-line System of Fish and
Amphibian
A lateral line is a distant touch
receptor system for detecting:
wave vibrations and currents in
water or a predator or a prey that
may be causing water
movements, in the vicinity of the
fish.
The lateral-line system consists
of sensory pits in the epidermis
of the skin that connects to canals
that run just below the epidermis.

Smell
The sense of smell or olfaction
(L. olere, to smell _ facere, to
make), is due to olfactory
neurons (receptor cells) in the
roof of the vertebrate nasal
cavity. Functions: identification
of: food, sexual mates and
predators. Receptor cells are
densely packed; for example, a
dog has up to 40 million
olfactory receptor cells per
square centimeter.
In most fishes, openings
(external nares) in the snout lead
to the olfactory receptors.
For amphibians, it is usually used
for mate recognition and locating
food. Vultures locate the dead
and dying prey largely by smell.
Olfaction is most highly
developed in mammals.
Mammals use this sense to locate
food, recognize members of the
same species, and avoid
predators. A human nose is said
to be able to discriminate around
20 000 different smells, but it is
still trivial compare to those who
rely hugely in their sense of
smell for survival. Dogs, for
example, scan and observe their
surroundings using their nose as

14

much as humans use their eyes

for it.
o
o

o
o
o
o

1.
2.
3.

mammals are color blind;

exceptions are primates and a
few other species such as
squirrels.

Olfaction has minor roles for

most birds. With the exception
of the vultureswho locates the
dead and dying prey largely by
smell. Many reptiles possess
blind ending pouches that open
through the secondary palate into
the mouth cavityJacobsons
(vomeronasal) organs
Vision

Photoreceptors (Gr. photos,

light _ receptor) are lightsensitive.
o
A camera is modeled somewhat
after vertebrate eyes. The acuity
of an animals eyes depends on
the density of cones in the fovea,
the region of keenest vision, is
located in the center of the retina.
The human fovea and that of a
lion contain approximately
150,000 cones per square
millimeter. But many water and
field birds have up to 1 million
cones per square millimeter.
Their eyes are as good as our
eyes would be if aided by eightpower binoculars.
o
The retina is composed of several
cell layers. 3 layers of the
spherical eyeball
Sclera provides support and protection
A choroid coat in the middle layer
The light sensitive Retina that contains many lightsensitive receptor cells.
o
o
Rods and cones are found in the
retina layer. Cones are primarily
concerned with color vision in
ample light; rods, with colorless
vision in dim light. Fovea
Centralis located at the center of
the retina, in direct line with the
center of the lens and cornea,
center of the eye's sharpest
vision. It is densely packed with
cones. Blind Spot is a region
where there are no cones or rods.
o
Unlike humans, who have both
day and night vision, some
vertebrates specialize for one or
the other. Strictly nocturnal
animals, such as bats and owls,
have pure rod retinas. Purely
diurnal forms, such as the
common gray squirrel and some
birds, have only cones; they are
virtually blind at night. Color
vision occurs in some members
of all vertebrate groups with the
possible exception of
amphibians. Bony fishes and
birds have particularly good
color vision. Surprisingly, most

o
o

To focus on images the lens

changes shape, depending on the
distance of the object. When the
object is near to the viewer the
lens is usually rounder. This is
called accommodation.

o
Three main types of eye refraction
Emmetropia (normal-sightedness)
myopia (nearsightedness)
hyperopia (farsightedness)
o
o
Emmetropia is the normal
condition of perfect vision, in
which parallel light rays are
focused on the retina without the
need for accommodation.
o
The bird's eye resembles that of
the vertebrate in structure but is
relatively larger and almost
immobile. However, birds can
turn their head with their long
and flexible necks to scan the
visual field. Some birds have two
fovea per eye. Center "search"
fovea gives wide angle of
monocular visionobserves the
landscape below during flight.
Posterior "pursuit" fovea gives
binocular vision that produce
depth perceptionto capture
prey and landing in a tree branch.
o
Vision is one of the most
important senses in the
amphibians because they are
primarily sight feeders. Contain 4
types of photoreceptors and they
are therefore capable of color
vision with a broader sensitivity
to color than humans.
Accommodation for amphibians
and fishes is performed through a
forward movement of the lens by
the protractor lentis muscle,
which moves the lens along the
optic axis of the eye toward or
from the retina.
o
Some reptiles possess a median
(parietal) eye that develops
from outgrowths of the roof of
the forebrain
o
o
Hearing
o
Importance:
o
mechanism to alert them to either nearby or
faraway potentially dangerous activity.
o
It also became important in the search for
food and mates
o
communication.
o
Adaptation to hearing in air
resulted from the evolution of an
acoustic transformer that
incorporates a thin, stretched
membrane, called either an

15

eardrum, tympanic membrane, or

tympanum, that is exposed to the
air.
Vestibular apparatus is
concerned with posture and
equilibrium. When the body is
still, the otoliths in the
semicircular canals rest on hair
cells. When the head or body
moves horizontally, or vertically,
the granules are displaced,
causing the gelatinous material to
sag. This displacement bends the
hairs slightly so that hair cells
initiate a generator potential and
then an action potential.
Auditory apparatus is
concerned with hearing. The
human ear has three divisions:
the outer, middle, and inner ear.
The outer ear consists of the
pinna, ear canal and eardrum.
The middle ear consists of the
ossicles and ear drum. The inner
ear consists of the cochlea, the
auditory (hearing) nerve
Hearing in most mammals have
an external sound-collecting
appendage, or pinna . Sounds
travel through the air as sound
waves. In normal hearing the
external part of the ear helps to
direct these sound waves down
the ear canal (external auditory
canal) to the ear drum. This
causes the ear drum (tympanic
membrane) to move and vibrate.

o
o
o
o

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

o
o

1.
2.
3.

3 smallest bones in the human

ear/body (Auditory Ossicles)
The Malleus (hammer) adheres to the tympanic
membrane and connects to the incus.
The Incus (anvil) connects to the stapes, which adheres
to the oval window
Stapes (stirrup) conducts sounds into the inner ear
o
The ears of anurans (frogs)
consist of a tympanum, a middle
ear, and an inner ear. Tympanum
vibrates in response to sounds
and transmits these movements
to the middle ear, a chamber
behind the tympanum. The sense
of equilibrium and balance in
amphibians involves the
semicircular canals. These canals
help detect rotational movements
and gravity.
o
Fishes lack the outer and/or
middle ear, which conducts
sound waves to the inner ear in
other vertebrates. Vibrations pass
from the water through the bones
of the skull to the inner ear. For
fishes with bony ossicles,
vibrations are amplified by the
swim bladder and sent through
the ossicles to the skull.
o
o
EXCRETION

o
o
o

o
o

Etymology:
Excretory comes from
the latin word excretio which
means to eliminate
Definition:
It can be broadly defined broadly
as the elimination of metabolic
waste products from an animals
body.
Functions:
Collect water and
filter body fluids
Eliminate excretory
products from the body
Excretion Process:
Filtration, pressure-filtering of
body fluids producing a filtrate
Reabsorption, reclaiming
valuable solutes from the filtrate
Secretion, addition of toxins and
other solutes from the body
fluids to the filtrate
Excretion, the filtrate leaves the
system
Parts:
Kidney:
The
kidneys are located in the back of
the abdominal cavity that is
found in the retroperitoneum and
they get blood from paired renal
arteries. The kidneys excrete
urine into one of the ureters. The
kidneys serve a variety of
functions including regulating
blood pressure, maintaining the
bodys acid-base balance and
regulating electrolytes. They also
naturally filter the blood,
diverting the waste towards the
urinary bladder. When the
kidneys produce urine, they
excrete wastes including
ammonium and urea. Other
functions include producing
hormones and reabsorbing amino
acids, glucose and water.
Ureters:
Each
ureter is a muscular tube that
brings the urine between the
kidneys and the urinary bladder.
They usually have a diameter of
between 3 and 4 mm and a length
of between 25 and 30 cm. They
cross over the pelvic brim close
to the bifurcation of iliac arteries,
which is where kidney stones are
commonly found. They then run
along the pelviss lateral walls
before curving towards the
bladder in the back.
Bladder:
The urinary bladder is
responsible for collecting any
urine that the kidneys excrete.
The urine is stored here before

16

urination occurs. In order to fulfil

this function, the bladder is an
elastic, hollow, and muscular
organ that rests on a persons
pelvic floor. Urine enters the
urinary bladder using the ureters
and the urethra carry it out.
o
o
o

o
o
o

o
o

o
o

small intestine doesnt absorb

will enter the large intestine.
Once it is there, bacteria, water
and undigested food are
combined to create feces.
Sometimes it will take food 24
hours to complete its journey
through a persons large
intestine.

Urethra:
The urethra is a tube
which connects a persons
urinary bladder to their genitals
so that urine can be removed
from the body. In females, the
urethra exits on top of the vaginal
opening. The urethra in males is
longer and it carries urine (as
well as sperm) through the penis.
There is also an external urethral
sphincter which allows us to
voluntarily control urination.

o
o

Other parts:
Lungs: Cellular
respiration is necessary to
provide our bodies with energy
as without it, the bodys cells will
die. However, cellular respiration
produces the waste product of
carbon dioxide which then needs
to be eliminated from the system.
This carbon dioxide diffuses out
from the cells in the body,
entering the bloodstream and
eventually going to the lungs.
The lungs contain alveoli which
diffuse the carbon dioxide from
the blood so it can enter the lung
tissue and eventually leave the
body during exhalation.
Skin: Sweat is a
crucial part of the excretory
system as it is responsible for
eliminating sweat from the body.
Salt contains several metabolic
wastes including urea, salts and
water. In addition to excreting
metabolic wastes, sweat also
cools down the body. The sweat
glands are able to receive the
various wastes because they are
mixed in with capillaries, which
are tiny blood vessels. This
means that the wastes can diffuse
out of the blood and enter the
sweat glands before passing out
of the skin in the form of sweat.
Large Intestine: The large
intestine is around 5 feet in
length and is responsible for
transporting waste so it can be
excreted. In general, it collects
waste from all over the body and
then extracts usable water,
allowing for the removal of solid
waste. It does so because any
waste products or food that the

o
o
o

o
o
o

Liver: The liver is responsible for

detoxifying and breaking down
any toxins such as chemicals and
poisons that enter our bodies.
One of the ways in which the
liver fulfils this function is by
taking ammonia in its poisonous
form and converting it into urea
which the kidney will eventually
filter, creating urine. In addition,
the liver produces bile which the
body then uses to help break fats
down into unusable waste and
usable fats. Bile is stored in a
persons gall bladder after the
liver produces it. The small
intestine uses it to break down
acidic wastes such as ammonia
as well as fats and ethanol,
converting them into harmless
substances. The liver also serves
several functions within the
circulatory system. It is also
responsible for maintaining the
bodys proper levels of glucose
based on cues from insulin
(which increases the amount of
glucose stored) and glucagon
(which decreases the amount of
glucose stored). The liver also
helps detoxify the blood by
removing any chemicals that are
potentially hazardous.
Nitrogenous Wastes:
Nitrogen wastes are, a
by product
of protein metabolism. Amino
groups are removed from amino
acids prior to energy conversion.
The NH2 (amino group)
combines with a hydrogen ion
(proton) to form ammonia (NH3).
Deamination
> Ammonia > Urea > Uric acid
During Deamination, enzymes
remove the amino group
as ammonia (NH3). Ammonia is
toxic, even at low concentrations,
and requires large amounts of
water to flush it out of the body.
Many animals, including
humans, create a less poisonous
substance, urea, by combining
ammonia with carbon dioxide.
An animal can retain urea for
some time before excreting it, but
it requires water to remove it

17

from the body as

urine. Birds, insects, land snails,
and most reptiles convert
ammonia into an insoluble
substance, uric acid. This way,
water is not required water to
remove urea from the body.

Ammonia: One nitrogen per molecule; highly toxic;

requires lots of water to flush

Urea: two nitrogens; less toxic; less water to flush

Uric Acid: Four nitrogens; non-toxic; requires very

little water to flush
o
o
Osmoregulation:

refers to the state aquatic animals are in: they are

surrounded by freshwater and must constantly deal with
the influx of water.

Necessary for animals in all habitats.

If the osmotic concentration of the body fluids of an

animal equals that of the medium the animal is
osmoconformers

there is little water transport between the inside of the

animal and the isotonic outside environment.

Animal that maintains its body fluids at a different

osmotic concentration from that of its surrounding
environment is as osmoregulation

Osmoregulators face two problems: prevention of water

loss from the body and prevention of salts diffusing into
the body.
o
o
Reported by: Cruz, Frances
Gabrielle A.
o
EXCRETION IN
INVERTEBRATES
o
o
By Excretory Organs:
o
A. Contractile Vacuoles

Occur in Protozoans (Paramecium)

Tiny, spherical, intracellular vacuole of unicellular

eukaryotes

Accumulate excess water from within the cytoplasm

and periodically discharge to the exterior so as to
maintain the normal fluid balance within the cell

As water enters the cell, a vacuole grows and finally

contracts and empties its contents through a pore on the
surface.

Vacuoles have many proton pumps located within their

membrane. Proton pumps create H+ and HCOgradients that draw water into the vacuole, forming an
isosmotic solution. These ions are excreted when the
vacuole empties.
The chief excretory product is Ammonia
Examples:
Paramecium
Small and have a large surface area in
proportion to their volume
High surface area to volume ratio
facilitates excretion
Excretion occur by diffusion across the
plasma membrane
Water enters because of osmosis. The
excess water enters the contractile
vacuole. The contractile vacuole will
swell. Then, it will move to the edge of
the cell. It will eventually, bursts and
expels water. The cycle is repeated.
o

In addition,
Echinodermata, Cnidarians and
Porifera have no excretory
organs but their excretion is by
DIFFUSION. For examples:

Sea Stars
Metabolic wastes are transported in the
coelom by diffusion and by the action
of ciliated cells lining the body cavity
Excretion occur by diffusion across
dermal branchiae, tube feet and other
membranous structures
Hydra
o
- Excretion by diffusion through
the cell walls into gastrovascular
cavity. Then, to the mouth into
surrounding water
Sponges
o
- excretion by diffusion through
the pores
o
B. Nephridium
It came the Greek word NEPHROS meaning
KIDNEY
Most common type of invertebrate excretory organ
A tubular structure designed to maintain appropriate
osmotic balance
It has TWO TYPES:
o
1. Protonephridium
It came from the Greek word PROTOS
meaning FIRST
Earliest type of nephridium
With inner ends closed
Its simplest system is Flame Cell Systems
occur in Platyhelminthes and Rotifers
Flame Cells
Scattered among the body cells from
which wastes are drawn to pass out in
a branched system of ducts
Bulblike
Located along the excretory canals
Fluid filters into the flame cells from
the surrounding interstitial fluid. Cilia
propel the fluid through the excretory
canals and out the body through
excretory pores
Function primarily in eliminating
excess water
Nitrogenous waste simply diffuses
across the body surface into the
surrounding water
Ex: Flatworm
o
Body fluids collected by
flame cells (protonephridia)
are passed down a system
of ducts to excretory pores
on the body surface
o
2. Metanephridium
It came from the Greek word META
meaning BEYOND
More advanced type of nephridium
With inner ends open
Occurs in Mollusks and Annelids
Ex: Earthworm
o
Its body is divided into
segments and that each
segment has a pair of
metanephridia

18

Each metanephridium
Labyrinth walls are greatly folded and
glandular
begins with the
Important site for reabsorption
nephrostome (a ciliated
It leads through a nephridial canal into
funnel) that opens from the
a bladder
body cavity of a segment
From the bladder, a short duct leads to
into a coiled tubule
an excretory pore
o
As cilia move the fluid
o
D. Malpighian Tubules
through the tubule, a

The excretory organs of insects

network of capillaries
surrounding the tubules

It is attached to the interior end of the hind gut and

reabsorbs and carries away
closed at their free ends
ions

Operate in conjunction with specialized glands in the

o
Each tubule leads to an
wall of rectum
enlarged bladder that

These are thin, elastic, closed and lack arterial supply.

empties to the outside of

These collect wastes from the body fluids and discharge

the body through
them into the hindgut
nephridiopore (an

Excretion involves the active transport of potassium

opening)
ions into the tubules from the surrounding hemolymph
Metanepridium differs in Protonephridium in:
and the osmotic movement of water that follows
o
1. The tubule is open at both

The nitrogenous waste is uric acid that enters the

ends, allowing fluid to be swept
tubules: it passes into the gut and out of the body
into the tubule through a

Ex: Grasshopper
nephrostome (a ciliated funnelUric acid and ions (Na+ & K+) are
like opening)
actively transported into the
o
malpighian tubules followed by water
o
2. Metanephridium is surrounded
that comes through osmosis
by a network of blood vessels
Some water, ions and organic
that assists in reabsorption from
compounds are reabsorbed in the basal
the tubular fluid of water and
portion of the Malpighian tubules and
valuable materials (salts, sugars
the hindgut. The rest are reabsorbed in
and amino acids)
the rectum
o
Then, the uric acid moves into the
But both have the same basic process
hindgut and is excreted
of urine formation
o
o
C. Antennal (Green) Glands
o
Additional Information:

The excretory organs of some crustaceans (Crayfish)

o
Coxal Glands
because of their location near the antennae and their

These
are
common
among
Arachnids (spiders,
green color
scorpions, ticks, mites)

It is located at the ventral part of the head

A spherical sacs that resemble the

Fluid filters into the antennal gland from the hemocoel

For collecting and excreting urine

Occur in most Crustaceans

Consisting of an end sac

Ex: Crayfish
Ex: Spider
o
Antennal glands are located in front of and
o
It has Malpighian Tubules and Coxal Glands
to both sides of the esophagus, and divided
o
An excretory pore at the base (coxa) of one
into an endsac
of the legs for urine
o
Fluid where collects by filtration and a
o
Coxal gland muscles are attached to the thin
labyrinth
saccular filtration membrane.
o
Labyrinth
o
o
SUMMARY OF EXCRETION IN INVERTEBRATES
o
Invertebrat
o
Excretory
o
Nitrogenous
es
Organ
Wastes
o
PROTOZO
o
Contractile
o
Ammonia
A
Vacuoles
(Paramecium
o
)
o
-remove
o
excess water
from
organism
(DIFFUSIO
N)
o
o
PHYLUM
o
No excretory
o
Ammonia
ECHINOD
organ
ERMATA
o
o
(Sea Stars)
o
-excretion is
by wastes
o

19

o
o

PHYLUM
CNIDARIA
(Hydra)

PHYLUM
PORIFERA
(Sponges)

PHYLUM
PLATYHE
LMINTHE
S
(Flatworms)
PHYLUM
NEMATOD
A

o
o
o

o
o
o

o
o

Roundworms

Rotifers
o
o

o
o
o

Insects
o
Crustaceans (Crayfish)
o
o
Arachnids (Spiders)

PHYLUM
MOLLUSC
A
o
Vertebrates Kidney Variation
Vertebrate Kidney Function and Structure
o

1.

PHYLUM
ANNELIDA
(Earthworm)
PHYLUM
ARTHROP
ODA

-excretion is
by
DIFFUSION
through cell
walls into
gastrovascul
ar cavity.
Then, to
mouth into
surrounding
water
No excretory
organ
-excretion is
also by
DIFFUSION
through the
pores
Protonephrid
ia (Flame
cells)

Ammonia

Ammonia

Ammonia
and Urea

Ammonia
and Urea

Ammonia
and Urea

o
o
o

passing out
the tube feet
(DIFFUSIO
N)
No excretory
organ

o
o

o
o
o
o

o
o

Consist of
one/more
large gland
cells opening
to an
excretory
pore/canal
system
Protonephrid
ia
Metanephrid
ia

Malpighian
Tubules
Antennal
(Green)
Glands or
Maxillary
Glands
Malpighian
Tubules and
Coxal
Glands
Metanephrid
ia

o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Uric acid
Ammonia

Uric Acid

Ammonia
and Urea

The organization of kidneys differs in

somewhat different groups of vertebrates,
but in all, the basic functional unit is the
Nephron

20

o
Renal Corpuscle
o
o
o
o

Bowmans capsule
-expanded chamber
Glomerulus

-tuft capillaries that

can be found in the Bowmans
capsule
Renal tubule
Proximal convoluted tubule
-convoluted portion of the
vertebrate nephron that lies
between Bowman's capsule and
the loop of Henle and functions
especially in the resorption of
sugar, sodium and chloride ions,
and water from the glomerular
filtrate
o
Loop of Henle
o
-The part of the renal tubule that
loops around into a U turn
o
Distal convoluted tubule
o
-nephron segment that lies
immediately downstream of the
macula densa. Although short in
length, the distal convoluted
tubule plays a critical role in
sodium, potassium, and divalent
cation homeostasis.
o
Glomerular Filtration
The glomerulus acts as a specialized mechanical filter,
which produces an almost protein-free filtrate of the
plasma in the fluid-filled space of the Bowmans
capsule as a result of high blood pressure across
glomerular capillary walls
The diameter of the afferent arteriole entering the
glomerulus is greater than that of the exiting efferent
arteriole
o
Tubular Reabsorption
Active transport in which cellular energy is used to
transport materials from tubular fluid to the surrounding
capillary network and thus into the blood circulation
For most substances there is an upper limit to the
amount of substance that can be reabsorbed, this is
termed the Transport Maximum (renal threshold) for
that substance
Aldosterone, a steroid hormone secreted by the adrenal
gland that increases both active reabsorption of sodium
and secretion of potassium by distal tubules
The secretion of aldosterone is regulated by the enzyme
renin, produced by the juxtaglomerular apparatus, a
complex of cells located at the junction of the afferent
arteriole with the glomerulus and by elevated blood
potassium levels.
Angiotensin, a blood-borne hormone that has several
related effects
Stimulates the release of
aldosterone
Increases the secretion of
antidiuretic hormone
Increases blood pressure
Stimulates thirst, which also is
stimulated by decreased blood
volume or increased blood
osmolarity.
o
Tubular Secretion
o
o

Nephron is made up of:

Tubular secretion enables a kidney to increase the urine

concentrations of materials to be excreted
Tubular epithelium has both cationic and anionic
transporters in their membrane
The distal convoluted tubule is the site of most tubular
excretion
o
o
2.The three types of kidneys
o
Archinephros or Holonephros,
a pair of kidneys extending the
entire length of the coelom and
composed of segmentally
arranged tubules , each opening
into the coelom by a peritoneal
funnel, provided near the funnel
with a glomerulus, and opening
laterally into a duct connecting
with the cloaca. Its duct is called
archinephric duct.
o
o
o
Pronephros
o
the anterior pronephros is
usually only a transient
embryonic developmental stage
in all vertebrates. Tubules that
appear within the anterior part of
the nephric ridge are called
pronephric tubules. These tubules
join to form a common
pronephric duct. This duct grows
posteriorly in the nephric ridge,
eventually reaching and opening
into cloaca. In most vertebrates,
the embryonic pronephros
regresses, and it is replaced by a
second type of embryonic
kidney, the mesonephros.
o
o
Mesonephros
o
tubules of the mesonephric
kidney arise in the middle of the
nephric ridge. Mesonephric
tubules do not produce a new
duct but instead tap into the
preexisting presonephric duct.
The pronephric duct is now
properly renamed as the
mesonephric duct. The extended
mesonephric kidney with
additional posterior tubules is
termed the opisthinephros. It is
found in most adult fishes and
amphibians.
o
o
Metanephros
o
the formation of the
metanephric duct that appears as
a ureteric diverticulum arising at
the base of the preexisting
mesonephric duct is the first
embryonic hint of a metanephros.
The ureteric diverticulum grows
dorsally into the posterior region
of the nephric ridge. Here it
enlarges and stimulates the
growth of metanephric tubules
that come to make up the

21

metanephric kidney. The

metanephric duct is usually
called the ureter.

o
o
Opisthonephros
Tubules arising from the middle and
posterior nephric ridge form an extended
kidney, the opisthonephros, that may
develop into the adutl kidney of fishes and
amphibians.
o
o
o

22

Comparative table of the three types of

kidneys

o
o
o

o
o
Kid
o

o
Pra

o
Mes

o
o
Met

o
o

Embryonic
history and
adult
structure
First to
apprear in
embryo;
develops
segmentally,
for forward
in body
cavity; each
unit with a
nephrostom
e opening
from the
coelam; no
glomeruli

Develops
segmentally
in middle
part of body
cavity; some
nephrostom
es open to
coelom, but
excretion
chiefly by
glomeruli

Last to
develop; not
segmental;
posterior in
body cavity;
no
nephrostom
es; many

o
i
o

App
ears
trans
ientl
y in
emb
ryo
and
soon
disa
ppea
rs

App
ears
after
pron
ephr
os;
func
tions
duri
ng
emb
ryon
ic
life,
disa
ppea
ring
befo
re
hatc
hing
or
birth
;
duct
persi
sts
as
duct
s
defe
rens
in
male
Last
to
appe
ar;
beco
mes
func
tion

o
F

o
B

o
o
N

23

in
rept
iles,
bird
s,
and
ma
mm
als

al
kidn
ey
after
hatc
hing
a
birth

glameruli;
all excretion
from
bloodstream

o
o
OSMOREGULATION IN VERTEBRATES
o
I. Osmoregulation
Over time, the rates of water uptake and loss must
balance.
Animal cellswhich lack cell wallsswell and burst if
there is a continuous net uptake of water, or shrivel and
die if there is a substantial net loss of water.
o
Two Types of Solution
o
1. Osmoregulators
an osmoregulator is an animal that must control its
internal osmolarity because its body fluids are not
isoosmotic with the outside environment.
An osmoregulator must discharge excess water if it
lives in a hypoosmotic environment or take in water to
offset osmotic loss if it inhabits a hyperosmotic
environment.
Osmoregulation enables animals to live in
environments that are uninhabitable to
o

II. Osmoregulation in Vertebrates

o
Org

o
E

osmoconformers, such as freshwater and terrestrial

habitats.
It also enables many marine animals to maintain
internal osmolarities different from that of seawater.
Because diffusion tends to equalize concentrations in a
system, osmoregulators must expend energy to
maintain the osmotic gradients via active transport.
The energy costs depend mainly on how different an
animals osmolarity is from its surroundings, how
easily water and solutes can move across the animals
surface, and how much membrane-transport work is
required to pump solutes.
o
2. Osmoconformers
Oneavailable only to marine animalsis to be
isoosmotic to the surroundings as an osmoconformer.
Although they do not compensate for changes in
external osmolarity, osmoconformers often live in water
that has a very stable composition and, hence, they have
a very constant internal osmolarity.
o
M

o
K

o
Freshwater Fishes

FISHES
o
H

o
A

o
A

Saltwater Fishes

o
H

o
A

o
A

Sharks

o
Is

o
A

o
S

o
H

o
A

o
A

o
H

o
A

o
S

o
N

o
U

o
D

o
AM
o

REPTILES

Marine Reptiles

Terrestrial Reptiles

Marine Birds

o
N

o
U

o
D

Terrestrial Birds

o
N

o
U

o
D

BIRDS

MAMMALS

24

A.

Marine Mammals

o
H

o
U

o
D

Terrestrial Mammals

o
N

o
U

o
P

o
Fishes
o
Freshwater animals are constantly gaining
water by osmosis and losing salts by
diffusion.

This happens because the

osmolarity of their internal fluids
is much higher than that of their
surroundings.

However, the body fluids of most

freshwater animals have lower
solute concentrations than those
of marine animals, an adaptation
to their low-salinity freshwater
habitat.

Many freshwater animals,

including fish such as perch,
maintain water balance by
excreting large amounts of very
dilute urine, and regaining lost
salts in food and by active uptake
of salts from their surroundings.
o
Marine bony fishes, such as cod, are
hypoosmotic to seawater and constantly lose
water by osmosis and gain salt by diffusion
and from the food they eat.

The fishes balance water loss by

drinking seawater and actively
transporting chloride ions out
through their skin and gills.

Sodium ions follow passively.

They produce very little urine.

o
Marine sharks and most other
cartilaginous fishes (chondrichthyans) use
a different osmoregulatory strategy.

Like bony fishes, salts diffuse

into the body from seawater, and
these salts are removed by the
kidneys, a special organ called
the rectal gland, or in feces.

Unlike bony fishes, marine

sharks do not experience a
continuous osmotic loss because
high concentrations of urea and
trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) in
body fluids lead to an osmolarity
slightly higher than seawater.

TMAO protects proteins from

damage by urea.

Consequently, water slowly

enters the sharks body by
osmosis and in food, and is
removed in urine.
o
Salmon and other euryhaline fishes that
migrate between seawater and freshwater
undergo dramatic and rapid changes in
osmoregulatory status.

While in the ocean, salmon

osmoregulate as other marine
fishes do, by drinking seawater
and excreting excess salt from
the gills.

B.

C.

When they migrate to fresh

water, salmon cease drinking,
begin to produce lots of dilute
urine, and their gills start taking
up salt from the dilute
environmentthe same as fishes
that spend their entire lives in
fresh water.

Amphibians

Amphibians apparently do not rely on

drinking to gain water in most natural
situations. For amphibians in fresh
water, drinking would compound the
problem of water excess imposed by
the high rates of osmotic influx of
water across the skin

Although they are unable to produce

hyperosmotic urine, renal water
conservation is well developed in
amphibians because they can become
completely anurie after loss of only a
few percent of the body water. It is
usually assumed that glomerular
filtration ceases altogether, but
analysis of kidney function is difficult
when no urine is produced.

Dehydration causes the release of

Arginine vasotoein (AVT) in
amphibians, and it is generally
supposed that antidiuresis and the
other components of the "waterbalance response" to dehydration.
o
Terrestrial birds have easy access to
freshwater. Since theyre nitrogenous waste
is uric acid, it takes little amounts of water
to wash it out into a semisolid paste.
Reptiles
o
Marine reptiles (iguanas, sea turtles,
crocodiles, and sea snakes) drink seawater to
obtain a supply of water

they are unable to produce a

concentrated urine that is
significantly hyperosmotic to
their body fluids.

They compensate for this by the

use of specialized glands for the
secretion of salts in a strong
hyperosmotic fluid.

Salt glands are generally located

above the orbit of the eye and
nose in lizards.

The salt glands of marine reptiles

secrete a sufficiently
concentrated salt solution to
enable them to drink saltwater
even though their kidneys are
unable to produce urine more
concentrated than seawater.
o
Many reptiles live in dry environments
(e.g., rattlesnakes in the desert). Among the
many adaptations to such environments is

25

their ability to convert waste nitrogen

compounds into uric acid.

Uric acid is quite insoluble and

so can be excreted using only a
small amount of water. Thus we
find that reptile glomeruli are
quite small and, in fact, some
reptiles have no glomeruli at all.

Those with glomeruli filter just

enough fluid to wash the uric
acid, which is secreted by the
tubules, into the cloaca. Most of
this moisture is reabsorbed in the
cloaca. Emptying the cloaca
deposits feces (brown) and uric
acid (a white paste).

(The cloaca is a chamber through

which the feces and the gametes,
as well as urine, pass on the way
to the outside. The name comes
from the Latin word for sewer.)

These water conservation

mechanisms can allow the reptile
to forgo drinking water. The
water content of its food plus the
water produced by cellular
respiration is usually sufficient.
D.

E.

Birds
o
Marine Birds can drink seawater as their
only source of water. This is possible
because these birds have another way (other
than the kidneys) to eliminate excess salt salt glands.

Salt glands of birds likely

evolved from nasal glands of
reptiles, probably in the late
Paleozoic. They lie immediately
under the skin in supraorbital
depressions of the frontal bone in
the skull of Charadriiform birds,
but in other groups they may be
located above the palate
or within the orbit of the eye.

The salt glands of marine birds

secrete excess NaCl via the salt
glands using less water than is
consumed, which generates free
water
Mammals
o
Marine mammals cannot drink seawater,
and would become quickly dehydrate if they
did.

These mammals face the same

problems as the desert animals.

Because mammals cannot

consume seawater, a different
method of hydration needs to be
found.

They have highly efficient

kidneys capable of producing
very hypertonic urine.

These animals also rely on

metabolic water (water produced
as an end product of cellular
metabolism) and water from
feeding on fishes and
invertebrates.

o
o
o

o
o
o
o
o

o
o

o
o
o

Terrestrial mammals produce large

amounts of nephric filtrate but are able to
reabsorb most of this in the tubules.

But even so, humans lose several

hundred ml each day in flushing
urea out of the body.

Some mammals have more

efficient kidneys than ours. The
kangaroo rat of the desert can
produce a urine 17 times more
concentrated that its blood. (The
best we can do is 3-4 times as
concentrated.)

The efficiency of the kangaroo

rat kidney enables it to survive
without drinking water simply
depending on the water content
of its food and that produced by
cellular respiration.
I. Introduction of the Circulatory System
A. Definition of Circulatory
System
- Circulatory system is the system in the
body composed of complex highway of
vessels, and its main purpose is to move
blood and nutrients throughout the body. It
is the main method for blood transportation
within the body.
- It is also responsible for gas exchange and
removal of waste products.
- In kingdom Animalia, there are two types
of circulatory systemopen and closed
circulatory system.
B. Open and Closed
Circulatory System with representative
Animal
1. Open Circulatory
System
- A type of circulatory system found in most
invertebrates wherein the heart pumps
hemolymph, or in some invertebrates the
coelomic fluid, out into the body cavity or
at least parts of the cavity, where the
hemolymph bathes the cells, tissues, and
organs.
- They are referred to as open because blood
is not contained through an enclosed circuit
of vessels.
- Instead, blood flows from the heart through
open-ended vessels and, when it reaches the
end of the vessels, it flows directly over the
tissues. Gas exchange occurs while the
tissues are bathed in the blood.
- An open circulatory system is more freeflowing and passive as compared to closed
circulatory system.
- Some examples of animals with an open
circulatory system are grasshopers
(arthropods), snails and clams (molluscs).
ANIMALS WITH OPEN CIRCULATORY
SYSTEM:

Arthropods- Many insects

contain a tracheal system that
brings oxygen into their bodies
through a series of tubes. This
means they have less energetic
demand on their body since their

26

o
o
o
o
o
o
o

o
o
o

oxygen system and circulatory

system are separated.
Molluscs (except for squid,
octopus and cuttlefishes that have
closed circulatory system)
Cephalochordata
Urochordata
Some other annelids like
polychaetes (tube worms)

their surroundings as fluid for

their circulation.
o
o
o
o
o

2. Closed Circulatory
System
- A type of circulatory system found in most
vertebrates wherein the blood circulates
within the confines of tubular vessels.
- Consist of three componentsblood,
blood vessels (capillaries, arteries, veins),
and heart.
- The blood of a closed system always flows
inside vessels, that is why blood and fluid
never mix.
- With two kindssingle and double
circulatory system. In single circulatory
system (single blood circulation) blood
passes through the heart only once each time
it completes a full circuit around the body,
an example is a fish. In double circulatory
system (double blood circulation) blood
passes through the heart twice in order to
complete a single complete circuit around
the whole body, including through the lungs
and all other parts (incl. organs and tissues)
of the body, an example is a mammal.
- Double circulatory systems include two
circuits of blood flowing to and from the
heart. They are the Pulmonary circulation,
the circuit by which blood flows from the
heart to the lungs, then back to the heart, and
Systemic circulation, the circuit by which
blood leaves the left ventricle of the heart
via the aorta, passes through the organs and
tissues of the body (except for the lungs),
then returns to the heart.
ANIMALS WITH
CLOSED CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

Mammals

Most annelids, for example is a

oligochaete (earthworm)

Nemertina

ANIMALS WITHOUT CIRCULATORY

SYSTEM
Sponges- use water from the
environment as a circulatory
fluid.
Cnidarians- and other
psudocoelomate invertebrates
like nematodes and rotifers,
contains gastrovascular cavity
a cavity that supplies nutrients
for all body cells lining the
cavity that provides oxygen from
the water cavity, and is a tank for
carbon dioxide and other wastes
Platyhelminthes- like the
sponges, they use water from

o
o
o

o
o
o
o

o
o

o
o
o
o

II. Transport System in Invertebrates

A. Characteristics of
Invertebrate Coelomic Fluid, Hemolymph
and Blood Cells
1. Coelomic Fluid
- It is the fluid in the body of some
invertebrates used to transport gases,
nutrients and waste products.
- May also function as hydrostatic skeleton
in certain invertebrates like the annelids.
- In some invertebrates like rotifers,
gastrotrichs, and nematodes use coelomic
fluids for their body cavity transport.
- Found in
some annelids, echinoderms, sipunculans
2. Hemolymph
- from the greek word haima (blood) and
lympha (water), it Is a mixture of blood and
water that circulates in the body of some
invertebrates like arthropods, ascidians, and
many other molluscs.
- heart pumps hemolymph at low pressure
through vessels to tissue spaces, also called
as hemocoel, and sinuses.
- Most of the times, hemolymph do not have
circulatory functions. For example, in
insects, the pressure of the hemolymph only
assist in molting of the old cuticle and in
inflation od the wings.
- Contains circulating cells called
hemocytes. Some cells have a respiratory
pigment such as haemoglobin and are called
erythrocytes (red blood cells). Cells that do
not contain respiratory pigment can function
for blood clotting.
- The hemolymph of molluscs has two
general types of hemocytes, amoebocytes
and granulocytes.
- Insect hemolymph contains large numbers
of hemocyte types that function in
phagocytosis, encapsulation, and clotting.
3. Blood Vessels
- number and types vary in different
invertebrates. Example, the blood of
annelids contain hemocytes that are
phagocytic (from greek word phagein
meaning to eat and -cyte meaning, cells.
They protect the body by ingesting foreign
particles, bacteria and dead cells)

III. Transport Systems in Vertebrates

A. Characteristics of vertebrate blood and
Blood vessels

Composed of blood cells that are suspended in the

blood plasma

Vertebrate blood is bright red when its

hemoglobin is oxygenated and dark red when it is
deoxygenated

Contains dissipated proteins, glucose,

mineral ions, hormones, carbon dioxide (plasma
being the main medium for excretory product
transportation), and blood cells themselves.
o
o
1.
Plasma

27

a.

2.

A.

B.

A pale yellow liquid component of blood

Holds the blood cells in whole blood in
suspension
Extracellular matrix of blood cells
55% of body blood volume and mostly 95% of it
is made up of water.
Blood plasma volume may be expanded by or
drained to extravascular fluid
Protein reserve of the human body
Plasma contains: dissolved proteins(e.g serum
albumins, globulins, and fibrinogen)hormones,
and carbon dioxide
o
o
Serum
It is a component neither a blood cell
because it does not contain red and white
blood cells
It contains all blood proteins not used in
coagulation
It is an essential factor for the self-renewal
of embryonic stem cells.
o
Formed elements of Blood
Leukocytes
Erythrocytes
Thrombocytes
o
Erythrocytes
o
vertebrate organism's principal means
of delivering oxygen (O2) to the
body tissues
o
take up oxygen in
the lungs or gills and release it into
tissues while squeezing through the
body's capillaries
o
It is red because the cytoplasm is rich
in hemoglobin
o
1.
Hemoglobin
Hemoglobin in the blood carries oxygen
from the respiratory organs (lungs or gills)
to the rest of the body (i.e. the tissues).
it releases the oxygen to permit aerobic
respiration to provide energy to power the
functions of the organism in the process
called metabolism.
o
2.
Oxyhemoglobin
Is formed during physiological respiration
when oxygen binds to the heme component
of the protein hemoglobin in red blood cells.
o
3.
Carbaminohemoglobin
is a compound of hemoglobin and carbon
dioxide and is one of the forms in which
carbon dioxide exists in the blood. 10% of
carbon dioxide is carried in blood this way
(85% carried in blood as bicarbonate
[hydrogen carbonate], 5% carried as free
CO2, in solution).
o
White blood cells (Leukocytes)
are the cells of the immune system that are
involved in protecting the body against
both infectious disease and foreign invaders. All
leukocytes are produced and derived from

C.

a multipotent cell in the bone marrow known as

a hematopoietic stem cell
o
o
1.
Eosinophils
are white blood cells and one of the immune
system components responsible for
combating multicellular parasites and
certain infections in vertebrates.
Function of the Eosinophilis
cationic granule proteins and their release
by degranulation.
reactive oxygen species such
as hypobromite, superoxide,
and peroxide (hypobromous acid, which is
preferentially produced by eosinophil
peroxidase)
lipid mediators like the eicosanoids from
the leukotriene (e.g., LTC4, LTD4, LTE4)
and prostaglandin (e.g., PGE2) families
o
o
Function of the Eosinophilis
enzymes, such as elastase
growth factors such as TGF beta, VEGF,
and PDGF.
cytokines such as IL-1, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL6, IL-8, IL-13, and TNF alpha
Basophils
are the least common of the granulocytes,
representing about 0.01% to 0.3% of
circulating white blood cells
contain large cytoplasmic granules which
obscure the cell nucleus under
the microscope when stained. However,
when unstained, the nucleus is visible and it
usually has two lobes.
The mast cell, another granulocyte, is
similar in appearance and function.
o
2.
Basophils
Both cell types store histamine, a chemical
that is secreted by the cells when stimulated.
Function of the basophils
appear in many specific kinds
of inflammatory reactions, particularly those
that cause allergic symptoms.
Basophils contain anticoagulant heparin,
which prevents blood from clotting too
quickly
They also contain the vasodilator histamine,
which promotes blood flow to tissues
o
3.
Neutrophils
type of white blood cells in mammals and
form an essential part of the innate immune
system.
are recruited to the site of injury within
minutes following trauma, and are the
hallmark of acute inflammation
o
o
Platelets
are a component of blood whose function (along
with the coagulation factors) is to stop bleeding
by clumping and clogging blood vessel injuries.
They gather at the site and unless the interruption
is physically too large, they plug the hole.

28

a.
-

b.
-

A.

First, platelets attach to substances outside the

interrupted endothelium: adhesion.
Second, they change shape, turn on receptors and
secrete chemical messengers: activation.
Third, they connect to each other through receptor
bridges: aggregation
o
o
Structure of Platelets

Peripheral zone - is rich in glycoproteins

required for platelet adhesion, activation,
and aggregation. For example, GPIb/IX/X;
GPVI; GPIIb/IIIa.

Sol-gel zone - is rich in microtubules and

microfilaments, allowing the platelets to
maintain their discoid shape.

Organelle zone - is rich in platelet

granules. Alpha granules contain clotting
mediators such as factor V, factor VIII,
fibrinogen, fibronectin, platelet-derived
growth factor, and chemotactic agents. Delta
granules, or dense bodies, contain ADP,
calcium, serotonin, which are plateletactivating mediators.
Membranous zone - contains membranes
derived from megakaryocytic smooth
endoplasmic reticulum organized into a
dense tubular system which is responsible
for thromboxane A2 synthesis. This dense
tubular system is connected to the surface
platelet membrane to aid thromboxane A2
release.
o
o
o
3. Vertebrate blood vessels
are the part of the circulatory system that
transports blood throughout the human body
do not actively engage in the transport of blood
(they have no appreciable peristalsis), but arteries
and veins to a degreecan regulate their inner
diameter by contraction of the muscular layer.
This changes the blood flow to downstream
organs, and is determined by the autonomic
nervous system. Vasodilation and vasoconstriction
are also used antagonistically as methods
of thermoregulation.
o
Arteries
are blood vessels that carry blood away from
the heart. While most arteries carry oxygenated
blood, there are two exceptions to this,
the pulmonary and the umbilical arteries
Its normal functioning is responsible for the
delivery of oxygen and nutrients to all cells, as
well as the removal of carbon dioxide and waste
products, the maintenance of optimum pH, and
the circulation of proteins and cells of the immune
system.
o
Veins
are blood vessels that carry blood toward the heart
carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to
the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and
umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated
blood to the heart. In contrast to
veins, arteries carry blood away from the heart
o
o
IV. Types of Hearts
Types of Hearts of Invertebrates

1.

Annelida

The two main vessels that are

used to circulate these animals'
nutrients, gases, etc. are known
as: the dorsal and ventral blood
vessels.
A dorsal vessel carrying blood toward the head,
and a ventral vessel that flows posteriorly,
delivering blood throughout the body by way of
segmental vessels and a dense capillary network.

The dorsal and ventral blood

vessels function as hearts.

Five aortic arches serve as

accessory hearts as well.
Five aortic
arches that on
each side
connect the
dorsal and
ventral vessels
are also
contractile and
serve as
accessory hearts
to maintain a
steady flow of
blood into the
ventral vessel.

The blood is delivered to both the

intestine and body wall, then the
branches split into capillary beds
to receive and release the
nutrients and oxygen supplied
through the vessels.
Through the
dorsal vessel,
blood is
circulated
anteriorly or to
the front
sections of the
creature's body.
The ventral
blood vessel is
when the blood
circulates
posteriorly or to
the back of the
body, and
supplies the
body wall and
and the intestine
with blood.
Eventually, after
the blood is
delivered to
both the
intestine and
body wall, then
the branches
split into
capillary beds to
receive and
release the
nutrients and
oxygen supplied
through the
vessels in the
closed

29

circulatory
system.
o
2.

Mollusca

Their hearts are usually found in

the left side of the body and
made up of one auricle and one
ventricle.
The ventricle
pumps blood
through an
aortic trunk to
all parts of the
body through a
group of arteries
and capillaries.
These work well
for slow-moving
mollusks such
as snails and
clams because
they demand for
oxygen isn't
very great

The blood flows into various

spaces in the tissues called the hemocoel.
From the
hemocoel blood
passes into the
veins and back
to the auricle.

The blood present in snails

contains a fused compound
known as hemocyanin which
purpose is to transports oxygen.

Hemocyanin is similar to
hemoglobin which is found in
human blood.
Hemocyanins
are respiratory
proteins in the
form of
metalloproteins
containing two
copper atoms
that reversibly
bind a single
oxygen
molecule.

Cephalopods (such as squids,

octopuses, and cuttlefishes),
however, have three muscular
chambered hearts:

o
3.

Two Branchial Hearts, and one

Systematic Heart
Brianchal hearts moves blood
through the gill's capillaries
Whereas the systemic heart
provides the rest of the body with
oxygenated blood.
The systemic
heart pumps
oxygenated
blood to the
body.
Deoxygenated
blood flows into
the two
branchial hearts

that pump blood

through the
gills. From the
gills the
oxygenated
blood flows
back into the
systemic heart.
Those hearts enable them to
move quickly, and transport
blood more quickly.

B.

Arthropoda

The heart and all viscera lie in

the hemocoel, bathed by blood.

A dorsal vessel is the major

structural component of an
insect's circulatory system. In the
abdomen, the dorsal vessel is
called and serves as the heart.

This vessel runs near the dorsal

surface of the thorax and
abdomen. When it contracts,
blood flows into the head region
of the insect. When an insects
heart relaxes, blood returns to it
through a series of valves. This
tube runs longitudinally through
the thorax and abdomen, along
the inside of the dorsal body
wall.

It is divided segmentally into

chambers that are separated by
valves (ostia) to ensure one-way
flow of hemolymph.
A pair of alary
muscles are
attached
laterally to the
walls of each
chamber.
Peristaltic
contractions of
the these
muscles force
the hemolymph
forward from
chamber to
chamber.
These valves are located in the posterior
region of the heart and allow the blood to
flow inward only. Thus, blood from the head
and other anterior portions of the insect
gradually flows through the spaces between
the tissues toward the posterior end and then
back through the one-way valves into the
heart.

During each diastolic phase

(relaxation) of the heart, the ostia
open to allow inflow of
hemolymph from the body
cavity.

o
Types of Hearts of Vertebrates
1.
Bony Fishes

A fish heart contains two main

chambers in series, an atrium
and a ventricle. Thus called a
two chambered heart.

30

Fish have the

simplest
circulatory
systems of the
vertebrates:
blood flows
unidirectionally
from the twochambered heart
through the gills
and then to the
rest of the body.
The atrium is preceded by an
enlarged chamber, the sinus
venosus, and the ventricle is
followed by conus arteriosus.
The sinus
venosus collects
blood from the
venous system
to assure a
smooth delivery
of blood to the
heart. Blood
flows back to
the heart via
veins. Two main
veins are the
"Hepatic veins"
(from the liver)
and the ducts of
"Cuviar" (the
main veins from
the rest of the
body). These
join together
into one larger
vein called the
"Sinus venosus"
(this has a large
muscle around it
and some
consider it
another
chamber). It
then goes
through the first
valve of the
heart (to keep
blood from
flowing
backward)
called the
"sinuatrial
valve."
Blood leaves the heart via the
ventral aorta which goes to the
gills. In the gills, blood becomes
oxygenated, loses carbon
dioxide, and enters the dorsal
aorta.
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.
Blood only passes through the
heart once, this system is called
a single circulation circuit. And
they have the simplest
circulatory systems among
vertebrates.
The dorsal aorta
distributes blood
to all of the
body organs and
then blood
returns to all of
the body organs,
and then blood
returns to the
heart via the
venous system

o
2.

Amphibians

A three-chambered heart that has

two atria and one ventricle.
The atrium is
completely
separated by a
partition into
two atria. The
right atrium
receives venous
blood from the
body while the
left atrium
receives
oxygenated
blood from the
lungs. The
ventricle is
undivided, but

31

venous and
arterial blood
remain mostly
separate by the
arrangement of
vessels leaving
the heart.
Two circulatory routes: one for
oxygenation of the blood through
the lungs and skin, and the other
to take oxygen to the rest of the
body. Thus the term double
circulatory circuit.
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 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.
Because most
amphibians
absorb more
oxygen through
their skin than
through their
lungs or gills,
blood returning
from the skin
also contributes
oxygenated
blood to the
ventricle. The
blood pumped
out to the rest of
the body is thus
highly
oxygenated.

o
3.

Reptiles

Just like amphibians, most

reptiles (except for aves and
crocodilias, both have four
chambered hearts) have three
chambered heart.

The heart consists of two atrium

and a ventricle. But unlike
amphibians, reptiles the
ventricles are partially divided
into a right and left side.

The incomplete separation of the

ventricles is an important
adaptation for reptiles, such as
turtles, because it allows blood to
be diverted away from the
pulmonary circulation.

When the ventricles contract,

blood is pumped out two aortae
for distribution throughout the
body, as well as to the lungs.

Oxygenated blood from the lungs

returns to the left side of the
heart via the pulmonary vein and

does not mix much with

deoxygenated blood in the right
side of the heart. Just like
amphibians, they exhibit a
double circulatory circuit.
Oxygenated
blood from the
lungs returns to
the left side of
the heart via the
pulmonary vein
and does not
mix much with
deoxygenated
blood in the
right side of the
heart. When the
ventricles
contract, blood
is pumped out
two aortae for
distribution
throughout the
body, as well as
to the lungs.
o
4.

Mammals, Aves, and Crocodilia

Mammals, aves, and crocodilia

have four chambered heart that
consists of left atrium, right
atrium, left ventricle and right
ventricle.
Blood returning
from the lungs
collects in the
left atrium,
passes into the
left ventricle,
and is pumped
into the body
(systemic)
circulation.
Blood returning
from the body
flows into the
right atrium, and
passes into the
right ventricle,
which pumps it
into the lungs.

The right atrium and left atrium

are reservoirs for blood (to be
sent to right ventricle and left
ventricle).

The right ventricle and left

ventricle are the main pumping
chambers of the heart.
Backflow of
blood is
prevented by
two sets of
valves that open
and close
passively in
response to
pressure
differences
between the
heart chambers.

32

A.

B.

Mammals, aves, and crocodilia,

just like amphibians and reptiles,
have double circulatory circuit.
The only difference is the
complete septum that makes the
four chambered heart of them.
The pulmonary
circuit supplies
the blood only
to the lungs. It
carries oxygenpoor
(deoxygenated)
blood from the
heart to the
lungs, where
carbon dioxide
is removed, and
oxygen is added.
It then returns
the oxygen-rich
(oxygenated)
blood to the
heart for
distribution to
the rest of the
body. The
systemic circuit
supplies all the
cells, tissues,
and organs of
the body with
oxygen-rich
blood and
returns oxygenpoor blood to
the heart.

o
o
V. The Human Heart
The heart is a hollow muscular organ and is the most
important muscle in the body
It works as a pump that moves blood through the body
It is about the same size of your fist
The heart beats on average 70 times per minute; 4,200
beats per hour; 100,000 beats per day; 365 million beats
per year; 30 billion beats in an average life time of 80
years.
An adult heart pumps about 8,000 liters of blood daily
o
Responsibilities of the Heart
The heart is responsible for two things:
1.
the heart provides oxygen and nutrients to
our cells through the blood it pumps
2.
it also carries away wastes from cells to
special organs like the kidneys to get rid of
them from the body
o
Parts of the Heart
a.
Tissues
Most of the human heart is composed of cardiac
muscle tissue called
myocardium.
The outer protective covering of the heart,
however, is fibrous connective tissue called the
epicardium.
Pericardium is a membrane anchoring heart to
diaphragm and sternum.
Connective tissue and endothelium form the
inside of the heart, the endocardium.

b.
c.
-

d.
-

Endothelium is a single layer of epithelial cells

lining the chambers of the heart, as well as the
lumen of blood vessels.
o
Chambers of the heart
The heart has four different hollow areas called
chambers.
There are two chambers on each side of the heart.
Each chamber is separated by a valve, which is a
flap of tissue that opens and closes to keep blood
flowing in the right direction.
The two chambers on top are called the atria
(sing. atrium). The atria are the chambers that fill
with blood.
The two chambers on the bottom are called the
ventricles. They pump the blood out of the heart,
first to the lungs and later to the rest of the body.
The septum is a thick wall of muscle that
separates the two sets of chambers. It separates
the left and rights sides of the heart.
Valves
Flaps of thin tissues attached to the heart wall
Allow blood to flow in one direction and prevent
the backward flow of blood
There are four main valves in the heart:
o
The two atrioventricular (AV)
valves which are between the
upper atria and the lower
ventricles

Mitral valve or the

Bicuspid valvebetween the left
atrium and left
ventricle

Tricuspid valvebetween the right

atrium and right
ventricle
o
The two semilunar (SL) valves
which are in the arteries leaving
the heart

Aortic valve- at the

exit of the left
ventricle

Pulmonary valveat the exit of the

right ventricle
Blood vessels
Arteries- carry blood away from the heart
o
Pulmonary artery- carry
deoxygenated blood from the
right side of the heart to the lungs
o
Aorta- carry oxygenated blood
from the left side of the heart to
the rest of the body
Veins- carry blood from the tissues back to the
heart
o
Superior vena cava- vein found
at the upper right part of the heart
that carry deoxygenated blood to
the right side of the heart
o
Inferior vena- vein found at the
lower right of the heart where
deoxygenated blood pass through
going to the right chambers
o
Pulmonary veins- two veins
found at the left side of the heart
where oxygenated blood pass

33

through going to the left

chambers
C.

o
Two Kinds of Circulation in the Heart
Pulmonary Circulation
Involves the right side of the heart
Carries deoxygenated blood
o
Pathway
1.
Superior / Inferior Vena Cava
2.
Right Atrium -> Tricuspid Valve
3.
Right Ventricle -> Pulmonary Semilunar Valve
4.
Left Pulmonary Artery
5.
Lungs
Systemic Circulation
Involves the left side of the heart
Carries oxygenated blood
o
Pathway
1.
Left Pulmonary Vein
2.
Left Atrium -> Bicuspid Valve
3.
Left Ventricle -> Aortic Semilunar Valve
4.
Aorta
5.
All Other Tissues
o
o
*Systole - the atria and ventricles go
through a phase of contraction
o
*Diastole - a phase of relaxation
o
Specifically, while the atria are
relaxing and filling with blood, the
ventricles are also relaxed. As more and
more blood accumulates in the atria, blood
pressure rises, and the atria contract, forcing
the AV valves open and causing blood to
rush into the ventricles. When the ventricles
contract, the AV valves close, and the
semilunar valves open, allowing blood to be
pumped into the pulmonary arteries and
aorta. After blood has been ejected from the
ventricles, they relax and start the cycle
anew.
o
o
VI. Blood Pressure
the force the blood exerts against the inner walls of
blood vessels
most commonly refers to systemic arterial blood
pressure
Arterial blood pressure rises and falls in a pattern
corresponding to the phases of the cardiac cycle. When
the ventricles contract (ventricular systole), their walls
force the blood in them into the pulmonary arteries and
the aorta. As a result, the pressure in these arteries
rises sharply. The maximum
pressure achieved
during ventricular contraction is called the systolic
pressure. When the ventricles relax (ventricular
diastole), the
arterial pressure drops, and the
lowest pressure that remains in the arteries before the
next ventricular contraction is called the diastolic
pressure.
An instrument used to determine blood pressure is
called a sphygmomanoter.
o
o
Cardiac Conduction System
o
1. SA node (sinoatrial node) the hearts
natural pacemaker

a small bundle of specialized cells located

in the right atrium
o
2. AV node (atrioventricular node)

a cluster of cells in the center of the heart

between the atria and ventricles, and acts

A.

B.

like a gate that slows the electrical signal

before it enters the ventricles
3. His-Purkinje Network
pathway of fibers sends the impulse to the
muscular walls of the ventricles and causes
them to contract.

o
o
VII. Lymphatic System
part of the circulatory system and a vital part of
the immune system, comprising a network of lymphatic
vessels that carry a clear fluid
called lymph directionally
towards the heart.
works closely with circulatory system
Functions of the Lymphatic System
1.
To collect and drain most of the fluid that seeps
from the bloodstream
and accumulates in the extracellular fluid.
2.
To return small amounts of proteins that have
left the cells.
3.
To transport foreign particles and cellular debris
to disposal centers
called lymph nodes.
Structures and Components of the Lymphatic
System in Vertebrates
Lymph
Latin. lympha, clear water
The extracellular fluid that accumulates in
the lymph vessels
Counterpart of blood
Lymphatic capillaries
Small vessels which are direct contact with
and collect excess extracellular fluid
surrounding tissues
Lymphatic vessels
Merged lymphatic capillaries that are thinwalled with valves to ensure the one way
flow of the lymph
Carry lymph from lymphatic capillaries to
veins in the neck where lymph returns to the
blood stream
The largest lymphatic vessels is the thoracic
duct.
Lymph nodes
Round or bean-shaped structures located at
intervals along the lymphatic system
Filters lymph
Play a role in antibody formation
Afferent and efferent lymph vessels
o
Spleen
Filters foreign substances from blood
Manufactures phagocytic lymphocytes
Stores red blood cells
Releases blood to the body when blood is
lost (ex: hemorrhaging)
Tonsils
Masses of lymphoid tissue found in the back
of the throat and nasal cavity
Part of the immune system and they help
fight infections
Thymus gland (in mammals)
Site of antibodies in the newborn
Involved in the initial development of the
immune system
Bursa of Fabricius (in birds)
A lymphoid organ at the lower end of the
alimentary canal in birds
o

34

C.

Lymphatic System of Invertebrates

Most invertebrates are characterized by their
open circulatory system and in animals with
this kind of circulation, there is no
distinction between blood and lymph and
therefore there is no separate lymphatic
system.
o
Cnidaria: Do not possess a
defined circulatory/lymphatic
system.
o
Platyhelminthes: Some have
lymph channels with free cells.
o
Nematoda: Do not possess a
defined circulatory/lymphatic
system but they have immune
systems.
o
Annelida: Closed circulatory
system with some lymphatic
vessels.
o
Porifera: Water vascular system,
no lymphatic system.
o
o

Mollusca: Open circulatory

system, no lymphatic system.
o
Echinodermata: Do not have a
lymphatic system, but they do
have a water vascular system that
is unique to echinoderms.
o
Arthropoda: Do not have a
lymphatic system.
There are undoubtedly many possible ways
in which organisms could organize their
microbe-fighting tissues. Some
invertebrates possess lymphoid tissues,
white bodies, or branchial spleens
which produce cells which function in
immune responses as do those cells of
vertebrate lymphatic tissues but are not
homologous with vertebrate lymphatic
tissues.
o

o
o

35