Heart and aorta morphology of the deep-diving hooded seal (Cystophora cristata)

Abstract

An investigation of the heart morphology of 8 male and 15 female hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) revealed that the heart is proportionately large and the aortic bulb is larger than that reported for most seals. Hooded seals of all ages have large hearts (0.64% of the body mass) and the right ventricle is proportionately longer and more muscular than reported for other seals. The bulb of the ascending aorta shows the large-diameter characteristic of seals capable of making long deep dives, and is constricted to a diameter of less than one-third in the descending aorta. In addition, the ascending aorta has a much greater concentration of elastin fibers than does the descending aorta. In combination with the large right ventricle, these features probably serve to increase lung perfusion during the hooded seal's surface recovery, and to maintain a high blood pressure throughout the cardiac cycle during diving bradycardia. That there was no substantive difference in the heart morphology of pups, yearlings, and adults, suggests that these features are important in the development of diving behavior, and agrees with the rapid behavioral and physiological development of hooded seal neonates.