Arterial system of the gill of the lobster, Homarus americanus.

Three-dimensional architecture of the branchial artery and venous vasculature of Homarus americanus was studied by the method of corrosion cast or styrene cracking and by scanning electron microscopy. Four arteries, the epibranchial (EA) and hypobranchial arteries (HA) on the septal wall of the afferent and efferent vessels, respectively, and two lateral canal arteries (LCA), each in one of the paired lateral canals, run parallel to the gill axis. The EA directs dendroid branches to the spongy tissue in the afferent vessel wall far from the efferent, supplying oxygen to the otherwise oxygen-depleted tissue. The HA distributes the filament arteriole (FA) into the central channel of individual middle filaments via the LCA. The FA opens halfway at a position where the channel narrows. Thus, it is likely that venous hemolymph in the central channel flows from base to tip in the direction in which arterial hemolymph from the FA flows. This and the anatomy of venous vasculature suggest three probable patterns of perfusion from afferent to efferent vessels: double serial circulation via the outer and inner filaments and novel routes both through the middle filament, i.e., single circulation via the afferent and efferent channels of this filament and double serial circulation via the outer filament and then the central channel of the middle. On the basis of the physics of flow and known physiological data, we propose that switching of these routes that involves independently functional multiple double serial circulations can play an important role in controlling efficiency of gas exchange, particularly during hypoxia. J Morphol. 233:165-181, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.