Closed and Open Circulatory System

Closed circulatory system

Vertebrates, and a few invertebrates, have a closed circulatory system. Closed circulatory systems have the blood closed at all times within vessels of different size and wall thickness. In this type of system, blood is pumped by a heart through vessels, and does not normally fill body cavities.

Open circulatory system


The open circulatory system is common to molluscs and arthropods. Open circulatory systems (evolved in crustaceans, insects, mollusks and other invertebrates) pump blood into a hemocoel with the blood diffusing back to the circulatory system between cells. Blood is pumped by a heart into the body cavities, where tissues are surrounded by the blood.