The Open Circulatory System of Spiders (Eurypelma californicum, Pholcus phalangioides): A Survey of Functional Morphology and Physiology

The circulatory system of most spiders consists of the heart, pericardium, arterial vascular system, the open venous system, and lung veins connecting book lungs to the pericardium. Several important aspects of the structure and function of spider circulation have been known only in outline until now. In this study, morphological details of the heart and pericardium, which allow them to function cooperatively as a pressure-and-suction pump, are reported. The arterial vascular system and the venous open system show adaptations to cellular oxygen requirements. At least in the legs, capillarization is absent and gas exchange with the tissues has to take place primarily along the open portion of the circulatory system. Cardiac output increases through higher stroke volumes and/or heart frequencies. Possible mechanisms for changes in the hemolymph flow distribution are discussed. The animal's body pressures, generated byprosomal and opisthosomal muscles, strongly interfere with normal circulation during locomotor activity.

[1]  R. G. Sherman.  Ultrastructural features of cardiac muscle cells in a tarantula spider , 1973, Journal of morphology.

[2]  R. H. Brown,et al.  The Hydraulic Mechanism of the Spider Leg , 1959 .

[3]  R. Pax,et al.  Spider cardiac physiology. 3. Responses of a tarantula heart to certain catecholamines, amino-acids, and 5-hydroxytryptamine. , 1970, Comparative and general pharmacology.

[4]  Paul,et al.  GAS TRANSPORT IN THE HAEMOLYMPH OF ARACHNIDS - CARBON DIOXIDE TRANSPORT AND ACID-BASE BALANCE , 1994, The Journal of experimental biology.

[5]  C. H. Ellis.  THE MECHANISM OF EXTENSION IN THE LEGS OF SPIDERS , 1944 .

[6]  R. Paul.  Gas exchange, circulation, and energy metabolism in arachnids , 1992 .

[7]  H. W. Levi.  ADAPTATIONS OF RESPIRATORY SYSTEMS OF SPIDERS , 1967, Evolution; international journal of organic evolution.

[8]  R. Pax,et al.  The heartbeat of the spider, Geolycosa missouriensis. , 1968, Comparative biochemistry and physiology.

[9]  J. E. Carrel,et al.  Heart rate in spiders: influence of body size and foraging energetics. , 1976, Science.

[10]  R. G. Sherman,et al.  Cardioregulatory nerves in the spider Eurypelma marxi Simon. , 1984, The Journal of experimental zoology.

[11]  R. Pax,et al.  Spider cardiac physiology. II. Responses of a tarantula heart to cholinergic compounds. , 1970, Comparative and general pharmacology.

[12]  Gas Exchange and Gas Transport in the Tarantula Eurypelma Californicum — An Overview , 1986 .

[13]  Powell Wj,et al.  Action of oxygen and potassium on vascular resistance of dog skeletal muscle. , 1967 .

[14]  L. Burnett,et al.  The Crustacean Open Circulatory System: A Reexamination , 1990, Physiological Zoology.

[15]  R. S. Wilson.  The heart-beat of the spider, Heteropoda venatoria , 1967 .

[16]  W. J. Powell,et al.  Action of oxygen and potassium on vascular resistance of dog skeletal muscle. , 1967, The American journal of physiology.

[17]  Alexander Petrunkevitch,et al.  Contributions to Our Knowledge of the Anatomy and Relationships of Spiders. , 1909 .

[18]  W. Bristowe.  The Liphistiid Spiders , 1932 .

[19]  K. Richter,et al.  The submicroscopic morphology of the heart ganglion of the spider Tegenaria atrica (C. L. Koch) and its neuroendocrine relations to the myocard , 1974 .