Doomlearn
DE

An octopus has three hearts and blue blood.

Two hearts push blood through the gills; the third supplies the body. That body heart stops while the animal swims, which is why octopuses prefer to crawl. Their blood is blue because it carries oxygen with copper-based hemocyanin instead of the iron-based hemoglobin in yours.

Useful: Copper binds oxygen better than iron in cold, oxygen-poor water: a deep-sea advantage.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

BiologieMeerTiere

Difficulty:

Question on this card

Why is octopus blood blue?

  1. Because of iron
  2. Because of copper in hemocyanin
  3. Because of algae in its diet
  4. It's a trick of the light
Show the answer

Correct: Because of copper in hemocyanin

Hemocyanin uses copper instead of iron, which turns the blood blue.

Keep reading

This card belongs to the topic Science & Tech. Every card is short, cites a source and can be saved – due ones come back by themselves later.