Erythrocruorin

erythrocruorin

[ə‚rith·rə′kru̇·ə·rən]

(biochemistry)

Any of the iron-porphyrin protein respiratory pigments found in the blood and tissue fluids of certain invertebrates; corresponds to hemoglobin in vertebrates.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Erythrocruorin

 

a hemoglobin (oxygen-carrying pigment) of certain invertebrates, such as leeches and Daphnia. Unlike the hemoglobins in vertebrates, erythrocruorin is found not in the erythrocytes but in the hemolymph or blood plasma (usually in dissolved form). Erythrocruorin has a higher molecular weight than hemoglobin in vertebrates (2,750,000–3,000,000), since the pigments dissolved in the blood usually form large molecular aggregates.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.