RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

General function and requirements.

o Gases move in and out of tissues by diffusion.

o External respiration specialized organs to accomplish gaseous exchange:

Certain fetal membranes.

Skin surface

Gills

Lungs, etc.

o Internal respiration exchange of gases between the blood and tissue cells.

o Efficiency increased by:

Large surface contact; highly vascularized.

Reduction of barrier between medium and blood.

Providing adequate time for exchange.

Establishing large diffusion gradient.

o Ventilation pumping of water in gills and air in lungs.

Respiratory Devices.
External and internal gills
Swim bladders and lungs
Skin
Buccopharngeal mucosa
filamentous (bushy) outgrowths of the posterior trunk & thigh (African hairy
frog)
lining of the cloaca
lining of esophagus

Aquatic gas exchangers.

o Cutaneous respiration.

Respiration through the skin in air, water, or both.

Probably employed by chordates ancestral to vertebrates.

Examples?

o Development and structure of pharynx.

Pharyngeal pouches develop in lateral
walls of embryonic pharynx; 6 or more
pairs.

Visceral grooves lie opposite the pouches

on outside of body.

Closing plates separate the pouches and

grooves.

Visceral arches separate adjacent

pouches; each contains its respective aortic arch.

o Fate of 1st pharyngeal pouch.

Agnatha becomes gill chamber.

Other fishes lost or modified to become cavity of spiracle.

Tetrapods becomes cavity of middle ear.

o Closing plates rupture in gill-bearing vertebrates; in tetrapods the 1st is retained as the ear
drum (tympanum), but the other leave no derivatives.

o 1st visceral arch becomes jaws of gnathostomes.

o 2nd visceral arch usually supports jaws in fishes; contributes to middle ear in tetrapods.
o More posterior arches support gill bars of fishes and become various derivatives in tetrapods
(hyoid apparatus).

o Respiratory epithelium develops from margins of visceral arches.

Endodermal cyclostomes.

Ectodermal gnathostomes.

o General structure and function.

Each gill bar may be extended by gill septa.

Most bars have gill rakers on their pharyngeal margins.

Typical gills two rows of gill filaments.

o Holobranch a single gill bar with anterior and posterior rows of gill filaments.
o Hemibranch a gill bar with filaments on one surface only.

o Pseudobranch filaments on posterior surface of mandibular arch, serve a nonrespiratory

function.

Gill lamellae on upper and lower surfaces of gill filaments.

o Afferent branchial arteries enter gill bars from below, give off filamental vessels which loop
through the apex of each filament.
o Efferent branchial arteries drain the filamental vessels.

o Capillary beds in lamellae between the loops.

o Countercurrent exchange flow of water and blood in opposite directions.

o Summary: diffusion favored by:

Surface area.

Small barrier between blood and water.

Fine mesh slows water down.

Countercurrent exchange.

Other factors: fish hemoglobin, nearly continuous ventilation.

o Teleost gill removes up to 80% of oxygen in water.

o Gills also important in excretion and osmoregulation.

o Evolution of internal gills classified in 3 categories.

Pouched gills.

Charactgeristic of Agnatha.

Gill filaments in pouchlike chambers.

Each pouch may have its own external pore (lampreys) or there may be a
common duct (hagfishes).
 5 to 15 pairs of gill chambers.

Septal gills.

Gill chambers larger, communicate more widely with pharynx.

Gill slits present.

Gill septa.

Elasmobranchs.

Spiracle.

Hemibranch anteriorly.

Opercular gills.

Characteristic of Osteichthyes.

Septa shorter (or absent) than filaments.

Operculum present.

Most bony fishes lose spiracle, but some may retain pseudobranch.

Hemibranch (1st branchial chamber) usually absent (exceptions: Dipnoi,

Chondrostei).

Functional gills of bony fishes usually consist of 4 holobranchs.

o External gills.
Develop from ectoderm, not directly related to visceral skeleton.

Blood supply from 2nd aortic arch, if single pair of gill present.

External gills present in larvae of lungfishes, Polypterus, most amphibians; some

salamanders are neotenic and are perennibranchiate.

o What are the different larval gills?

Aerial gas exchangers.

o Origin and development.

Lung internal organ derived from gut tube that is filled with air and functions in
respiration.

Gas bladder internal organ filled with gas but not respiratory in function (bony
fishes).

In amniotes lungs develop from single, ventral evagination of gut tube.

In air-breathing fishes (Actinopterygii) lungs usually develop dorsal to the gut and
are single.

Figure from Kent & Miller, courtesy of WCB/McGraw-Hill

o Evolutionary scenario:
First lungs at least by Devonian.

Lungs initially as paired organs that developed in series with pharyngeal pouches.

Lungs shifted ventrally in tetrapods, dipnoans, and a few of the primitive ray-fins.

In most ray-fins, lungs shifted dorsally and became single bladder.

o Lungs and gas bladders of fishes.
Pneumatic duct joins gas bladder to gut; always present in embryos of fish with
lungs or bladders.

If organ is to function as lung duct retained; the physostomous condition.

A gas bladder with no duct the physoclistous condition.

o Physoclistous gas bladders.

Secretory area limited to anterior gas gland(s).

Rete mirabile underlying gas gland; consists of thousands of long capillaries.

Gas gland and rete mirabile together are called the red body.

Oval body on posterior part of bladder where gas is resorbed.

o Arterial blood reaches red body from celiacomesenteric artery and oval body from dorsal
aorta; leaves via hepatic portal and posterior cardinal viens, respectively.

o Functions of gas bladder.

Hydrostasis possible to alter composition of gases and volume of gas bladder.

Sound and pressure reception vibrations transmitted to inner ear via:

Paired extensions of bladder into back of skull.

Paired chains of ossicles (derived from processes of anterior vertebrae)

called the Weberian apparatus.

Examples of fishes??

Sound production examples??

 respiration function as lungs in physostomous fishes.

o Evolution of lungs from amphibians to mammals tetrapod lungs differ from fish lungs:
Usually paired.

Higher surface-to-volume ratio.

Joining ventral side of gut via trachea.

Receiving low-oxygen blood via vessels related to the 6th aortic arches.

Returning oxygenated blood directly to heart without prior mixing.

o Primary evolutionary trend adaptation to increasing body size or metabolic rate by

increasing the compartmentalization of lungs.
o What else? Read more about evolution to air-breathing organisms.

NARES AND NASAL CANAL

cartilaginous & ray-finned fishes* external nares to blind olfactory sac sensory
epithelia for smell.

lobe-finned fishes* nostrils to oropharynx.

*in no living fish are nostrils used for breathing only chemosensory.

in mammals choanae open into nasopharynx.

proboscis developed in some mammals; blowholes in whales.

characteristics of the blowholes??

LARYNX air passage between glottis and upper end of trachea.

 tetrapods besides mammals 2 pair of cartilages: arytenoids & cricoids.

mammals paired arytenoids + cricoid + thyroid + several other small cartilages

including the epiglottis (closes glottis when swallowing).

glottis + associated cartilages + vocal cords = vocal communication.

amphibians, some lizards, & most mammals also have vocal cords stretched across
the laryngeal chamber.

apodans and urodeles and most reptiles are mute.

male anurans vocal sacs croaking of toads.

birds lack vocal cords breeding calls by syrinx.

most mammals have false vocal cords purring in kittens.

hippos lack vocal cords; howler monkeys enormous, goiter-like bulge in the neck.

Examples of mammals with underdeveloped vocal cords??

in male lizards anterior wall of larynx with saccular evagination gular

pouch/dewlap (as attractants for mating).

TRACHEA

usually about as long as the vertebrates neck.

short in amphibians; long in amniotes; in birds, some turtles, and crocodiles longer
than the neck.

reinforced by cartilaginous rings (or C-rings).

splits into 2 primary bronchi &, in birds only, forms the syrinx at that point.

function/s of syrinx??
 LUNGS

o Anura.
Large short lungs. Located in what cavity/ies?

Short trachea divides into 2 short bronchi.

Opening from trachea to pharynx glottis.

Arytenoid cartilages dorsal.

Cricoid cartilages ventral.

Together, these cartilages form the larynx.

What is positive pressure ventilation?

o Caudata.

Lungs have regressed (lost in most species??)

o Reptiles.
simple sacs in Sphenodon & snakes.

Many heterogeneously partitioned compartments.

lizards, crocodiles, & turtles lining is septate, with lots of chambers &
subchambers.

Trachea and bronchi long and supported by cartilaginous rings.

Each bronchus enters lung near anterior end.

What is negative-pressure ventilation?

o Mammals.
Lungs even more finely divided.

Lobes absent or present.

 Trachea divides into right and left primary bronchi that enter lung anterior and dorsal
to center.

Primary bronchi divide into smaller bronchi and finally into bronchioles
(membranous) which further divide into repiratory bronchioles where gaseous
exchange occurs.

These end at alveolar duct systems (with alveoli).

Also negative-pressure ventilation?? air flow is bidirectional.

o Avian lungs and air sacs.

Unique respiratory system; large air sacs join lungs and serve in ventilation.

Most of air flow not tidal, moves in one direction.

Each primary bronchus enters a lung ventrally somewhat anterior to center of the
organ.

4 secondary bronchi (ventrobronchi) join the primary bronchus.

7 to 10 dorsobronchi next join the primary bronchus and branch over the dorsolateral
surface of lung.

Ventrobronchi and dorsobronchi connected by thousands of parabronchi.

Wall of parabronchi with pockets (atria) which, in turn, have alcoves (infundibula)
from which branch air capillaries.

How is ventilation achieved in birds??

o Air sacs are devoid of respiratory epithelium serve to ventilate the system.
2 abdominal air sacs (synsacrum, femur).

2 posterior thoracic air sacs (join prim. bronchi, laterobronchi).

2 anterior thoracic air sacs (3rd ventrobronchus).

 2 cervical air sacs (cervical vertebrae & muscles, 1st ventrobronchus).

1 interclavicular air sac (humerus, muscles of the axilla and shoulders).

Guidelines for Ventilation of lungs (also refer to book for more explanation).

Air-breathing fishes.
Internal nares, when present, not used.

Air gulped into oral cavity using pharynx as suction pump.

With closed mouth, pharynx acts as pressure pump to force air into pneumatic duct.

Exhalation passive.

Two-cycle pulse pump.

Anura.

Retain above system with modifications.

 Internal nares functional.

Glottis closed, nares open, air sucked into buccopharyngeal space.

Glottis and nares open, air escapes body from lungs, does not mix with
Afresh@ air stored in ventral part of buccopharyngeal space.

Glottis open, nares close, throat raised forcing air into lungs.

o Ventilation by aspiration more efficient.

Air sucked into lungs by negative pressure.

Exhalation is either passive or results from constriction of thoracic or abdominal

cavities.

Aspiration frees oral cavity and pharynx to adopt principally to feeding.

One-cycle system; strong ribs and strong intercostal and abdominal muscles.

o Labyrinthodonts probably first aspiration breathers.

o Snakes inhalation and most of exhalation is forced.

o Crocodilians inhale when diaphragmatic muscle pulls liver toward pelvis, liver sucks on
lungs, exhalation passive.

o Mammals lungs inflated by negative pressure from contraction of external intercostal

muscles and diaphragm, exhalation passive.

o Birds most air flows to parabronchi in the dorsobronchi; ventilation of parabronchi in one
direction only, exits via ventrobronchi.

References:
From comparative anatomy textbooks listed in the syllabus and from the internet.
Pictures and/or plates and figures from the internet or scanned from the comparative anatomy textbooks.