Annelida: Circulation

Circulation

Characteristics of the circulatory system vary within the phylum. The blood usually contains hemoglobin, a red oxygen-carrying pigment; some annelids have a green oxygen-carrying pigment, and others have unpigmented blood. The circulatory system is usually closed, i.e., confined within well-developed blood vessels; in some polychaetes and leeches the circulatory system is partly open, with blood and coelomic fluid mixing directly in the sinuses of the body cavity. Blood flows toward the head through a contractile vessel above the gut and returns to the terminal region through vessels below the gut; it is distributed to each body compartment by lateral vessels. Some of the lateral vessels are contractile and serve as hearts, i.e., pumping organs for driving the blood.

Sections in this article:

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Zoology: Invertebrates