Which fish has blue blood. What animals have blue blood? Why is the sloth called that?

Does blood have to be red? Why shouldn't she, for example, be green or blue, or, in general, as in the movie "Predator" does not glow in the dark? Do you remember the colorless blood-acid of Alien? Ilu the "blue blood" of Russian nobles? Isn't it cool? So, let's try to figure out what causes the color of blood:

All people have red blood. Color, as you know, gives it hemoglobin, which is the main component of the erythrocyte, filling it by 1/3. It is formed as a result of the interaction of the globin protein with four iron atoms and a number of other elements. It is thanks to oxide iron (Fe 2+) that hemoglobin acquires red color. In all vertebrates, in some species of insects and mollusks, iron oxide is present in the blood protein, and therefore their blood has a scarlet color.

But it turns out that it is not at all necessary to be red for blood. Some animals have a completely different color of blood. For example, in some invertebrates, oxygen is carried not by hemoglobin, but by another iron-containing protein - hemerythrin or chlorocruorin.

Hemerythrin, which is the respiratory pigment in the blood of brachiopods, contains five times more iron than hemoglobin. Oxygenated hemerythrin gives blood violet shade, and giving oxygen to the tissues, such blood becomes pink. Hemerythrin is localized in cells, which, unlike ordinary erythrocytes, are called pink blood cells.

But, in polychaete worms, the respiratory pigment is another iron-containing protein - chlorocruorin dissolved in blood plasma. Chlorocruorin is close to hemoglobin, but its basis is not oxide iron, but ferrous oxide, which gives blood and tissue fluid green color.

However, these options are not limited to nature. The transfer of oxygen and carbon dioxide, it turns out, may well be carried out by respiratory pigments based on ions of other (besides iron) metals.

For example, sea squirts have blood colorless, since it is based on hemovanadium containing vanadium ions.

Do you remember our nobles with blue blood? It turns out that this happens in nature, but the truth is only in octopuses, octopuses, spiders, crabs and scorpions. The reason for such a noble color lies in the fact that their respiratory blood pigment is not hemoglobin, but hemocyanin, in which copper (Cu 2+) is present instead of iron. Combining with atmospheric oxygen, hemocyanin turns blue, and, giving oxygen to tissues, it becomes somewhat discolored. As a result of this, in these animals in the arteries flows blue blood, and blue in the veins. If hemoglobin is usually found both in plasma and in blood cells (most often in red blood cells), then hemocyanin is simply dissolved in blood plasma. It is interesting that there are organisms, for example, some mollusks, in which hemoglobin and hemocyanin can be present simultaneously, and in some cases one of them acts as an oxygen carrier in the blood, and the other in the tissues.

By the way, there are still cases when people turned out to have blue blood. True, not at all among the nobles. One such case was once published by the Trud newspaper (dated March 17, 1992):

“The Severodvinsk resident Mikheev decided to donate blood out of noble motives, as well as to receive a discount coupon for lunch. He passed it. The doctors looked at her and gasped: the blood turned out to be of a strange bluish color. liver changes. And these changes are associated with Mikheev's habit of using alcohol-containing liquids of an ignoble, let's say, origin. For example ... stain ...". Who knows, maybe our kings with blue blood also did not disdain stain ... ;-)

Well, and finally, a plate where all this completely useless knowledge about the color of blood is brought together:

P.S. By the way, what made me interested in this stupid question about the color of blood ... The fact is that last week I had fun with the fact that, along with kpblca wrote a fantasy story. The beginning, but the unfinished "story" itself. By the way, maybe there will be those who wish and add a sequel to it ...

Update (14-June-2003): The story would be incomplete if talking about red, green, blue, blue and purple blood, I would not mention the yellow and orange blood that is often found in insects.

The reason I forgot about this blood is that I was looking for information about respiratory pigments, and in insects, the blood (or more precisely, the hemolymph) is just devoid of these pigments and does not participate in the transport of oxygen at all. Breathing in insects is carried out with the help of trachea - branching tubes that directly connect cells internal organs with air environment. The air inside the tracheal tube is still. There is no forced ventilation there, and the inflow of oxygen into the body (as well as the outflow of carbon dioxide) occurs due to diffusion with a difference in the partial pressures of these gases at the inner and outer ends of the tube.

Such an oxygen supply mechanism severely limits the length of the tracheal tube, the maximum length of which is fairly easy to calculate, so the maximum size of the body of the insect itself (in cross section) cannot exceed the size chicken egg. However, if we had higher pressure on the planet, insects could reach gigantic sizes (as in science fiction horror films).

The color of the hemolymph in insects can be almost any, because. it contains many various substances including poisons and acids. So, the blister family got its name precisely because of the ability of its representatives (for example, the spanish fly) to isolate drops from the joints of the thighs and shins yellow blood, which, if it comes into contact with the skin of a person, causes burns and watery blisters that look like abscesses.

Representatives of many families contain very toxic substances in the hemolymph, in particular, cantharidin. If such a poisonous hemolymph enters the mouth, it can cause serious poisoning of a person and even death. Particularly poisonous blood ladybugs- specific smell, cloudy, yellow-orange liquid that they secrete in case of danger.

In this photo, the process of taking blood from a real animal in a US medical laboratory.
They write that such a process does not cause any harm to the animal.

Who knows what animal in the land of blue bloods?

Have you ever heard of such an amazing living creature as the horseshoe crab? On the English language its name literally sounds like horseshoe crab, but the horseshoe crab (lat. Xiphosura) has nothing to do with either an ordinary crab, or, of course, with a horseshoe. At the same time, in its position in the natural world, the horseshoe crab is related to crabs and even spiders.

In the scientific community, the horseshoe crab is better known as Limulus polyphemus. Translated from the Latin "polyphemus" means "many-eyed", which best characterizes the appearance of this creature. Horseshoe crabs have four eyes, with two of them on the side and two in front. The front eyes, at the same time, are so close to each other that they seem to merge into one eye.

According to scientists, horseshoe crabs can be attributed to fossil animals that have survived to this day. The history of the existence of this living being covers two hundred million years, and during this time appearance horseshoe crabs remained virtually unchanged. In nature, there are very few such unique examples that are so attractive for scientific observation and study.

The body of the horseshoe crab is protected by a reliable shell, while the side eyes allow you to catch the slightest movement from all sides. The tail of the animal has several spiky protrusions, which also make it possible to maintain balance in a strong water current. Turning over, the horseshoe crab quickly regains its former position with the help of the movement of the tail.

Horseshoe crabs have six pairs of limbs, four of which help move along the seabed. In addition, the short limbs in the front allow holding and absorbing food, while the longest hind limbs help the creature swim. The mouth opening of the horseshoe crab is hidden behind those four limbs, thanks to which it can move along the bottom.

Another surprising thing is that horseshoe crabs have no teeth. Being completely omnivorous, horseshoe crab has to absorb food, tearing it into small pieces. Its main prey is carrion, algae, fish caviar, as well as all kinds of sea oysters and worms.

The respiratory apparatus of the horseshoe crab is gills, consisting of one and a half hundred of the thinnest plates that release and absorb oxygen from the water. The creature can breathe as long as its gills are kept moist.

Like fish and crustaceans, horseshoe crabs reproduce by spawning. When born, a small horseshoe crab does not yet have a tail and, as it were, is dressed in a soft armored shell. But after a month, they grow out of the shell, which has time to harden, and often shed it. The length of an adult horseshoe crab can reach 60 centimeters, and, of course, he often has to drop shells that interfere with body growth.

The horseshoe crab is a real miracle of nature, which came in our days from those distant times when there was not only a person, but also modern flora and fauna.

And his blood is blue, because it does not contain iron, like ours, but copper. Copper oxide is what gives horseshoe crab blood a bluish tint. Horseshoe crab blood is used for medical purposes, it is used to make a reagent for checking the purity of medical preparations: if the preparation is contaminated with microorganisms or their products, the blood coagulates.

Each person, to one degree or another, tries to express his individuality, dissimilarity to other representatives of society, and sometimes even to show some kind of his superiority. The expression blue blood in a person has long been a metaphor and is the best way to characterize people who consider themselves head and shoulders above the rest, endowed with special privileges. Scientists suggest that the expression is not unreasonable: people with blue blood do exist. In addition, people and carriers of the “blue blood” disease - hemophilia can be attributed to the owners of a unique natural combination of genes.

The blue color of blood is not a curiosity for nature. In the animal kingdom, there are a lot of blue-blooded representatives. In humans, the respiratory pigment is responsible for delivering oxygen to tissues. The compound is based on iron, which gives the blood a red color. So, in squids, octopuses, cuttlefish, hemocyanin, which has copper in its composition, is used as a respiratory blood pigment. Pure copper is dark orange in color, but its compounds have a bluish-greenish tint (you can recall the blue powder of copper sulphate for treating plants from pests). It is the copper-containing compound that gives the blue color to the blood of animals. Such blue blood is also found in representatives of crustaceans, centipedes, snails and spiders.

Appearance on globe prospectors associate people with blue blood with the popularity of copper products in ancient times. Women wore massive copper jewelry, ate food from copper utensils, as a result of which the metal accumulated in the body, which affected the color of the blood of the woman's unborn child. partially replaced by copper, and acquired a bluish-purple color.

Unusual properties are attributed to blue blood: it quickly turns into blood and is practically not susceptible to disease, since copper is a strong antiseptic. Historical sources contain written evidence of military battles between English knights and Saracens that took place in the middle of the XIII century. Even with numerous wounds, the noble knights did not suffer large blood loss, that is, it was increased.

On the this moment scholarly opinions are divided. Some people count the blood blue color a special adaptive element of evolution, its separate reserve branch, and they claim that about 5-7 thousand people with blue blood live on Earth. They are called kyanetics. In the event of adverse conditions and cataclysms, it is kyanetics who will be able to survive and give life to subsequent generations.

Another part of the researchers suggests that “blue-bloodedness” is the result of a rare combination of genes and refers to a group of orphan (rare and poorly understood) diseases in which deviations in the genetic code occur with a probability of 1 case per 5,000 people and much less often.

The term "blue blood" itself is widely adopted from Spain. Noble persons were very proud of the pale, sometimes bluish color of their skin, carefully protected it from sunburn, and themselves from marriage ties with dark-skinned Moors. Wealthy pale-skinned aristocrats did not have to work under the scorching rays of the sun, struggling to earn their living.

Later, the concept of blue blood became even stronger thanks to. Hereditary blood incoagulability is a classic example of a recessive, sex-linked inheritance pathology in a closed population. On the pedigree of the descendants of Queen Victoria - the carrier of the hemophilia gene - medical students study genetics.

Women are carriers of the hemophilia gene, while men are affected.

It was believed that in order to maintain the kind of marriages in royal environment should be concluded among a narrow circle of elected persons. However, this statement did not justify itself: men from the kind of Queen Victoria suffered from hemorrhages, any or a lump carried a danger to life. In addition, in closely related marriages, a lot of genetic defects are manifested, leading to the appearance of barren offspring and the degeneration of the genus.

Among the rarest ("blue") is the fourth negative - no more than 5% of the world's population. You might think that having such a rare group, its owners should suffer from large blood loss - it’s hard for them to pick up. In fact, the opposite is true: in critical cases, when it is impossible to transfuse "group into group", the representatives of the fourth group will accept the blood of all other groups - for this they are called ideal recipients.

Arterial and venous blood

There are different views on the evolution of blood group differences. The rare fourth blood group is considered the youngest, having arisen only 1500-2000 years ago. As a result of crossing the genes of the second (A) and , a fourth group arose with genetic code AB. However, there are supporters of the opposite opinion: supposedly the fourth blood type was originally inherent in all ancient people and even their ancestors - great apes.

In the process of evolution, the fourth group split and gave rise to branches different groups. latest version reinforces the theory of ontogenesis, which says that a person in the process of intrauterine development repeats all stages of evolution. Indeed, while in the womb, the fetus has a common fourth blood group for up to three months, and only later does differentiation into other groups occur.

The same theory applies to people with blue blood. The researchers found that in the process of breathing and supplying oxygen to tissues, copper and vanadium ions initially prevailed. Later, the organism evolved, iron ions showed the best ability to transport oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Blue blood remained in mollusks as a necessary adaptive element, since they do not have a branched circulatory system and imperfect thermoregulation. Without accurate dosing of oxygen portions by copper ions, these animals would have become extinct long ago. Now copper plays an irreplaceable role in the process of intrauterine development of the human fetus in the formation of the hematopoietic system, its role is also important in adults, and blue blood in individual representatives of mankind has remained as an atavism.

It should be noted that even the ordinary person blood has different shades. When enriched in the lungs with oxygen, arterial blood becomes bright scarlet, saturated carbon dioxide, has a dark cherry color.

This fact should be known to every medical officer for adequate first aid for injuries and bleeding.

Some nutritionists suggest shaping your diet according to your blood type.

Initially, ancient people obtained food by hunting animals. In that historical period prevailed, therefore the owners of the first group are called "hunters". Their diet should be dominated by meat products - a source of proteins, fatty acids and amino acids. For food purposes, you need to use "ripened" meat, after keeping it at a low positive temperature. At the same time, its fermentation and positive changes in its taste, aroma and structure take place, digestibility improves.

With the transition to sedentary life and the emergence of agriculture appeared. Its representatives are recommended to introduce mainly vegetarian products into the diet. Vegetables are a rich source of carbohydrates, vitamins, contain a lot of magnesium, potassium and iron. Dietary fibers and organic acids of vegetables play an important role in digestion.

The third blood group is the descendants of livestock breeders. It will be useful to use milk and dairy products in their diet, they have a low calorie content, stimulate the work of the kidneys, intestines,. It is the main source of calcium.

Representatives of the rarest fourth blood group are advised by nutritionists to make up their diet from fermented milk products, seafood and vegetables. Fermented milk products are rich in lactic acid, which has a beneficial effect on the intestinal flora, and also contributes to the production of B vitamins. Seafood (mussels, squid, oysters) contain complete proteins, vitamins and are low in calories.

Regardless of the type and color of blood, human nutrition should be rational and balanced. The approximate daily calorie content should not exceed 2800-3000 kcal, and for overweight people - no more than 1700-1800 kcal. Too frequent consumption of fatty, spicy, fried food, alcohol. Water should be drunk up to 2 liters per day.

Physical exercise is essential for the health of every person. The optimal load is 3-4 classes per week. Very good walking and jogging. The route for jogging should be chosen away from traffic lanes, dusty streets and industrial areas. It is best to run and walk in the park, where there are many trees. So the blood will be saturated with oxygen, and not harmful emissions from highway. The load should be increased gradually, depending on the state of health.

It is also useful to go swimming - it increases the vital capacity of the lungs. Aerobics gives flexibility to the figure, rhythmic cardio loads (for example, jumping rope, shaping) strengthen the heart muscle.

intimate life

It is believed that people with the same blood types feel their relationship on a subconscious level and an emotional contact arises between them, which can lead to close relationships.

Representatives of the first and second blood groups are impatient, prone to competition, leaders by nature, including in intimate life, and the third and fourth are softer, open and accommodating, but sometimes they are impulsive. It's all about regulation in the body. People of the first two blood groups have a longer period of excretion of stress hormones - adrenaline and noradrenaline from the blood than the rest. Differences in emotionality can have an impact on close relationships. Interestingly, same-sex marriages are most often created by people with the rarest fourth blood type.

Education

It has been noticed that people with the first blood group more often choose professions where they can show leadership: managers, bank employees, politicians. The second is characterized by a stable, orderly work of a librarian, accountant, programmer. The owners of the third group are always in search and more often get the education of a journalist, military man, hairdresser, cook. the best professions for the creative representatives of the fourth group, they become a designer, director, writer.

The success and position of a person often does not depend on what type and color of blood he has, but everything comes from his own desire live a bright, full life, develop, learn and achieve your goals.

Video - About the blue blood group in some people:

In this photo, the process of taking blood from a real animal in a US medical laboratory.
They write that such a process does not cause any harm to the animal.
Who knows what animal in the land of blue bloods?

Have you ever heard of such an amazing living creature as the horseshoe crab? In English, its name literally sounds like “horseshoe crab”, but the horseshoe crab (lat. Xiphosura) has nothing to do with an ordinary crab, and, of course, with a horseshoe. At the same time, in its position in the natural world, the horseshoe crab is related to crabs and even spiders.

In the scientific community, the horseshoe crab is better known as Limulus polyphemus. Translated from the Latin "polyphemus" means "many-eyed", which best characterizes the appearance of this creature. Horseshoe crabs have four eyes, with two of them on the side and two in front. The front eyes, at the same time, are so close to each other that they seem to merge into one eye.

According to scientists, horseshoe crabs can be attributed to fossil animals that have survived to this day. The history of the existence of this living creature covers two hundred million years, and during this time the appearance of horseshoe crabs has not changed much. In nature, there are very few such unique examples that are so attractive for scientific observation and study.

The body of the horseshoe crab is protected by a reliable shell, while the side eyes allow you to catch the slightest movement from all sides. The tail of the animal has several spiky protrusions, which also make it possible to maintain balance in a strong water current. Turning over, the horseshoe crab quickly regains its former position with the help of the movement of the tail.

Horseshoe crabs have six pairs of limbs, four of which help move along the seabed. In addition, the short limbs in the front allow holding and absorbing food, while the longest hind limbs help the creature swim. The mouth opening of the horseshoe crab is hidden behind those four limbs, thanks to which it can move along the bottom.

Another surprising thing is that horseshoe crabs have no teeth. Being completely omnivorous, horseshoe crab has to absorb food, tearing it into small pieces. Its main prey is carrion, algae, fish caviar, as well as all kinds of sea oysters and worms.

The respiratory apparatus of the horseshoe crab is gills, consisting of one and a half hundred of the thinnest plates that release and absorb oxygen from the water. The creature can breathe as long as its gills are kept in

They probably still remember from childhood that fairy princes and blue blood princesses. In folklore and in the same fairy tales, it acts as a sign of nobility. However, in reality, blue blood does not flow in the most noble creatures ...

Red blood flows in the veins of almost all living organisms. The red color of blood gives a special pigment - hemoglobin, consisting of gland and protein. main function hemoglobin is the transport of oxygen through the blood vessels.

Blue blood flows in the veins spiders, scorpions, crabs, crayfish and all cephalopods (squids, octopuses...). Unlike red blood, blue blood contains a pigment called hemocyanin. The basis of hemocyanin is another metal - copper It is what gives blood its blue color.

Since blue blood carriers do not have blood vessels, hemocyanin has many more functions on its shoulders than hemoglobin. In addition to the fact that the blue pigment very accurately measures and delivers portions of oxygen to the organs, it also regulates body temperature in accordance with the state of the environment.

The carriers of the most unique blood in the world are several types of marine worms. The main pigment of their blood consists of ferrous iron, so this blood has bright green color.