Control of breathing in invertebrates

Abstract

Every animal that has a respiratory faculty has some mechanism for regulating its perfusion and ventilation. A prerequisite for such regulation is some way of sensing internal and external levels of respiratory-relevant gases. The regulatory entities can be peripheral, central, or both. This chapter looks at the control of breathing in aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates and concludes that the main signal for aquatic species is oxygen, whereas the internal pH/PCO2 is most important for the control of air breathing, regardless of the phylogenetic group to which the animal may belong.