Meanings
plural haemocyanins
- UKalternativecountableuncountableAlternative spelling of hemocyanin.
Haemocyanin : Out of these four respiratory blood pigments, haemocyanin ranks next in importance to haemoglobin.
2005, Pradip V. Jabde, Text Book Of General Physiology, Discovery Publishing House, page 1342 more examples
It now appears that in spite of great differences in structure, molluscan and arthropod haemocyanins have a common molecular origin (Schneider et al., cited in Linzen et al. 1985a).
1987, Frauke Strazny, Steven F. Perry, “A: VI: Respiratory Structure: System and Structure”, in Wolfgang Nentwig, editor, Ecophysiology of Spiders, Springer, page 84S. officinalis uses the blood pigment haemocyanin which has a limited capacity for carrying oxygen (3 mM) and thus rely on fully oxygenating haemocyanin at the gills and releasing the majority of the bound oxygen as it passes through the body (Melzner et al. 2007b).
2013, Isobel S. M. Bloor, Martin J. Attrill, Emma L. Jackson, “A Review of the Factors Influencing Spawning, Early Life Stage Survival and Recruitment Variability in the Common Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis)”, in Michael Lesser, editor, Advances in Marine Biology, Volume 65, Elsevier (Academic Press), page 51
Origin
- Ancient Greekαἷμᾰ (haîmă)
- Ancient Greekαἱμο- (haimo-)
- Englishhaemo-
- Englishcyan
- Englishhaemocyanin
Cite this entry
haemocyanin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haemocyanin
“haemocyanin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haemocyanin. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “haemocyanin,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haemocyanin.
Source: haemocyanin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.