The structural organisation of an elastic fibre network in the aorta of the cephalopod Octopus dofleini

Abstract

The dorsal aorta of the cephalopod Octopus dofleini is the large blood vessel through which blood flows from the systemic heart. The walls of this artery are composed of thick circular and longitudinal layers of striated muscle cells. Outside the muscle layers is a loose collagenous adventitia. Innermost and adjacent to the lumen is a layer of elastic fibres which have structural similarities to elastin fibres in the arteries of vertebrates. These fibres also extend into the muscle layers of the octopus aorta and appear to form a continuous network of extracellular connective tissue which provides the mechanical basis for long-range elasticity in the artery wall of this cephalopod.