The Animals breathing through stomata Are those who use the pores of their skin or openings called spiracles or stigmas as channels to perform the respiratory process.
It is not common to use the term stoma to refer to animal breathing, as this term is best known in reference to the type of breathing proper to the higher plants. The terms spiracle or pore are more appropriate when referring to animals that have this type of breathing.
In plants, stomata are pores formed by a pair of specialized cells, the occlusive cells, which are found on the surface of the leaves of most of the higher plants. These can be opened and closed to control the gas exchange between the plant and its environment.
In the case of animals, respiration by spiracles occurs mainly in insects and is related to Tracheal breathing .
On the other hand, respiration through the pores of the skin is observed in animals such as amphibians and annelids, which present a type of Cutaneous respiration .
You may also like to know 12 animals breathing through the gills .
Examples of animals breathing through stomata (spiracles or pores)
Earthworm
This annelid does not have specialized respiratory organs. The uptake of oxygen and the removal of carbon dioxide are done through the pores of your skin.
Snail
The snail has a very particular respiratory orifice called pneumostoma. Through this hole located under the mantle on the animal's head, the air is drawn in and out.
For inspiration, the pneumostome opens and air enters the palatal cavity filling it with air. To perform the expiration, the pneumostome is opened again and the vitiated air is expelled.
The snail also has skin breathing, which is done through the surface of the foot that is exposed to the air.
Fruit Fly
Its scientific name is Drosophila melanogaster And is also commonly known as vinegar fly. Your breathing is tracheal and performed through the spiracles present in your abdomen.
Velvet worms
These animals known also as onicophores are related to arthropods. Just as they have a tracheal system to perform their respiratory process.
But unlike them, their spiracles remain constantly open, since they do not possess a mechanism for their control.
Other examples of animals breathing through spiracles or pores are: frogs (skin breathing and lung breathing), newts (skin breathing), grasshoppers (tracheal breathing), ants (tracheal breathing), cicadas (tracheal breathing), dragonflies And crab (tracheal breathing).
Also the butterfly (tracheal breathing), cecilia (skin breathing), beetle (tracheal breathing), mites (tracheal breathing), bee (tracheal breathing), silkworm (tracheal breathing), spider (tracheal breathing), millipedes ) And the cockroach (tracheal breathing), among others.
Stomata in animals
Spiracles
Spiracles are small orifices that connect the respiratory tracheal system with the outside. They are highly complex structures that can be opened and closed to allow for a variable amount of gaseous exchange. In addition, the accuracy of its control helps to prevent the loss of water.
Spiracles open more frequently and more widely at high temperatures and when activity increases, according to the increased need for oxygen.
An interesting aspect of these structures is that they do not necessarily all open at the same time, but to the extent that carbon dioxide is produced and oxygen is lost.
Carbon dioxide appears to be the primary stimulus for opening the spiracles. If a small stream of carbon dioxide is directed towards a particular spiracle, only this spiracle will open. This shows that each spiracle can respond independently.
Spiracles are always on the sides of insects and are located in the chest and abdomen.
They are aligned by pairs and there can be from 2 to 10 pairs. There is always at least one pair that is located in the thoracic area and the others are present in the abdominal area.
The structure of the spiracles may consist of its simplest form in an orifice that connects directly with the trachea. In its most complex form, the externally visible orifice leads to a cavity known as an atrium that connects with the trachea.
Often, the walls of the atrium are covered by hairs or filtering flakes. In some animals, the spiracle is covered by a sieve plate containing a large number of small pores. Both the hairs and the sieve plate serve to prevent the entry of dust, microorganisms or water into the animal's trachea.
Pores
The pores, like the spiracles, are small holes that are scattered by the external tissue or skin that covers the body of an animal. These holes are the external openings of the sweat glands.
However, in animals with cutaneous respiration are the channels that allow the gas exchange between the exterior and internal respiratory cells or tissues.
Animals with skin respiration (such as earthworms) do not have specialized breathing organs. So breathe through your skin. It is thin, moist, highly vascularized and permeable to gases.
The skin should remain moist all the time so that the glandular cells secrete a mucus that flows out through the pores.
Likewise, the dorsal pores flow abundantly the celomic fluid which also contributes to the maintenance of body moisture.
This moisture allows the pores to remain open and the animal can absorb oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.
References
- Willmer, C. and Fricker, M. (1996). Stomata. London, UK: Springer-Science + Business Media. Retrieved from books.google.co.ve.
- Schmidt, K. (1997).Animal Physiology: Adaptation and Environment. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from books.google.co.ve.
- Chapman, R. (2013). The Insects: Structure and Function. Arizona, USA: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from books.google.co.ve.
- Sloane, E. (2002). Biology of Women. Albany, USA: Delmar Thomson Learning. Retrieved from books.google.co.ve.
- Rastogi, V. (2004). Modern Biology. New Delhi, IN: Pitambar Publishing Company. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ve
- Gallo, G. (2011). The snail: breeding and exploitation. Madrid, ES: Ediciones Mundi-Prensa. Retrieved from books.google.co.ve.
- Monge, J and Xianguang, H. (1999). 500 million years of evolution: Onychophores, the first animals to walk (Onychophora). In Bol. S.E. TO. 26 pp 171-179. Retrieved from sea-entomologia.org.