Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Spider Ecophysiology pp 15–27Cite as

The Circulatory System of Spiders

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

The spider circulatory system is a structurally complex and elaborately regulated system with a broad range of functionalities. Apart from its well-known role in metabolism and, plesiomorphically at least, in oxygen distribution, its main functions are hydraulic. This article reviews the state of knowledge on both the evolutionary and functional morphological levels.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abbott NJ (1971) The organization of the cerebral ganglion in the shore crab. Carcinus maenas. II. The relation of intracerebral blood vessels to other brain elements. Z Zellforsch 120:401–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson JF, Prestwich KN (1975) The fluid pressure pumps of spiders. Z Morphol Tiere 81: 257–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barth FG (2002) A spider’s world: senses and behavior. Springer, Berlin

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bristowe WS (1932) The Liphistiid spiders. With an appendix on their internal anatomy by J. Millot. Proc Zool Soc Lond 102:1015–1057

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown SK, Sherwood DN (1981) Vascularization of the crayfish abdominal nerve cord. J Comp Physiol A 143:93–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burmester T (2013) Evolution and adaptation of hemocyanin within spiders. In: Nentwig W (ed) Spider ecophysiology. Springer, Heidelberg (this volume)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bursey CR, Sherman RG (1970) Spider cardiac physiology. I. Structure and function of the cardiac ganglion. Comp Genet Pharmacol 1:160–170

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carrel JE (1987) Heart rate and physiological ecology. In: Nentwig W (ed) Ecophysiology of spiders. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrel JE, Heathcote RD (1976) Heart rate in spiders: influence of body size and foraging energetics. Science 193:148–150

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Causard M (1896) Recherches sur l’appareil circulatoire des aranéides. Bull Sci France Belgique 29:1–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Crome W (1953) Die Respirations- und Circulationsorgane der Argyroneta aquatica Cl. (Araneae). Wiss Z Humboldt-Universität Berlin 2:53–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez-Fernandez F, Sherman RG (1984) Cardioregulary nerves in the spider Eurypelma marxi Simon. J Exp Zool 231:27–37

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huckstorf K, Kosok G, Seyfarth E-A, Wirkner CS (2013) The hemolymph vascular system in Cupiennius salei (Araneae: Ctenidae). Zool Anz (in press)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kropf C (2013) Hydraulic system of locomotion. In: Nentwig W (ed) Spider ecophysiology. Springer, Heidelberg (this volume)

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin AW (1974) Circulation in invertebrates. Annu Rev Physiol 36:171–186

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McMahon BR, Burnett LE (1990) The crustracean open circulatory system: a reexamination. Physiol Zool 63:35–71

    Google Scholar 

  • McMahon BR, Wilkens JL, Smith PJS (1997) Invertebrate circulatory systems. In: Danzler WH (ed) Handbook of physiology, vol 2. Comparative physiology. American Physiological Society, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Millot J (1933) Notes complementaires sur l’anatomie des liphistiides et des hypochilides, a propos d'un travail recent de A. Petrunkevitch. Bull Soc Zool France 58:217–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Nentwig W (2012) The species referred to as Eurypelma californicum (Theraphosidae) in more than 100 publications is likely to be Aphonopelma hentzi. J Arachnol 40:128–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pass G (2000) Accessory pulsatile organs: evolutionary innovations in insects. Annu Rev Entomol 45:495–518

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Paul RJ, Bihlmayer S (1995) Circulatory physiology of a tarantula (Eurypelma californicum). Zoology 98:69–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Paul RJ, Tiling K, Focke P, Linzen B (1989) Heart and circulatory functions in a spider (Eurypelma californicum): the effects of hydraulic force generation. J Comp Physiol B 158: 673–687

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paul RJ, Bihlmayer S, Colmorgen M, Zahler S (1994) The open circulatory system of spiders (Eurypelma californicum, Pholcus phalangoides). Physiol Zool 67:1360–1382

    Google Scholar 

  • Petrunkevitch A (1933) An inquiry into the natural classification of spiders, based on a study of their internal anatomy. Trans Conn Acad Arts Sci 31:299–389

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandemann DC (1967) The vascular circulation in the brain, optic lobes and thoracic ganglia of the crab Carcinus. Proc R Soc Lond B 168:82–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider A (1892) Sur le systeme artériel du scorpion. Tabl Zool 3:157–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Seitz K-A (1972) Zur Histologie und Feistruktur des Herzens und der Hämocyten von Cupiennius salei KEYS. (Araneae, Ctenidae) I. Herzwandung, Bildung und Differenzierung der Hämocyten. Zool Jahrb Anat 89:351–384

    Google Scholar 

  • Seyfarth E-A (2002) Tactile body raising: neuronal correlates of a ‘simple’ behavior in spiders. In: Toft S, Scharff N (eds) European Arachnology 2000: Proceedings of the 19th European Colloquium of Arachnology. Aarhus University Press, Aarhus

    Google Scholar 

  • Seyfarth E-A, Hammer K, Grünert U (1990) Serotonin-like immunoreactive cells in the CNS of spiders. Verh Deut Z 83:640

    Google Scholar 

  • Seyfarth E-A, Hammer K, Spörhase-Eichmann U, Hörner M, Vullings HG (1993) Octopamine-like immunoreactive neurons in the fused central nervous system of spiders. Brain Res 611: 197–206

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sherman RG (1973) Ultrastructural features of cardiac muscle cells in a tarantula spider. J Morphol 140:215–242

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sherman RG (1985) Neural control of the heartbeat and skeletal muscle in spiders and scorpions. In: Barth FG (ed) Neurobiology of arachnids. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherman RG, Pax RA (1968) The heart-beat of the spider Geolycosa missouriensis. Comp Biochem Physiol 26:529–536

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sherman RG, Pax RA (1969) Electrical activity in single muscle cells of a spider heart. Comp Biochem Physiol 28:487–489

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sherman RG, Pax RA (1970a) Spider cardiac physiology. II. Responses of a tarantula heart to cholinergic compounds. Comp Gen Pharmacol 1:171–184

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sherman RG, Pax RA (1970b) The spider heart. In: Kerkut GA (ed) Experiments in physiology and biochemistry. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart DM, Martin AW (1974) Blood pressure in the tarantula, Dugesiella hentzi. J Comp Physiol 88:141–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ude J, Richter K (1974) The submicroscopic morphology of the heart ganglion of the spider Tegenaria atrica (C.L. KOCH) and its neuroendocrine relations to the myocard. Comp Biochem Physiol A 48:301–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson RS (1967) The heartbeat of the spider, Heteropoda venatoria. J Insect Physiol 13: 1309–1326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson RS (1970) Some comments on the hydrostatic system of spiders (Chelicerata, Araneae). Z Morphol Tiere 68:308–322

    Google Scholar 

  • Wirkner CS, Richter S (2010) Evolutionary morphology of the circulatory system in Peracarida (Malacostraca; Crustacea). Cladistics 26:143–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Institute of Biosciences, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    Christian S. Wirkner & Katarina Huckstorf

Authors
  1. Christian S. Wirkner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Katarina Huckstorf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christian S. Wirkner .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Baltzerstr. 6, Bern, 3012, Switzerland

    Wolfgang Nentwig

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Wirkner, C.S., Huckstorf, K. (2013). The Circulatory System of Spiders. In: Nentwig, W. (eds) Spider Ecophysiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33989-9_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation