Excretory System

Three types of nitrogenous wastes excreted by animals:

 Ammo - the primary nitrogenous waste for invertebrates, teleost
nia and larval
amphibians.
- readily soluble in water but highly toxic.
- excreted from the body only in dilute solutions.
 Urea - produced by mammals, most by amphibians, some
reptiles, some marine
fishes, and some terrestrial invertebrates.
- formed by combining ammonia with bicarbonate ion.
- about 100,000x less toxic than ammonia.
- its excretion requires only about 10% as much water
compared to ammonia.
 Uric - excreted by birds, insects, and terrestrial reptiles.
acid - relatively non-toxic.
- more energetically expensive to produce than urea.
- largely soluble in water.
- excreted by semisolid paste or precipitate with very little
water loss.

Excretory System in Invertebrates

1. Cell surface or Cell membrane
 Allows passage of wastes in unicellular organisms

2. Contractile vacuole
 A specialized cytoplasmic organelle in many freshwater protists (e.g.
Paramecium) that expels excess water out of the cell to prevent lysis.

3. Protonephridia or Flame Bulb system

 Network of tubules that are lack internal openings but have external
openings at the body surface called nephridiopores.
 Smallest branches of the tubule network end with a large cell called a
flame bulb or cell.
 Water and solutes in body fluids the flame cell and get filtered.
 Specific molecules and ions are removed by reabsorption.
 Other ions and nitrogenous wastes are released into the tubules
network and excreted via the nephridiopore.
4. Metanerphidia
 The excretory tubule of most annelids and adult mollusks
 Nephrostome collects body fluid
 Some ions and molecules are reabsorbed while other ions nitrogenous
wastes are secreted into the tubules.
 The bladder stores in the nitrogenous wastes as urine and later on
excreted from the body surface via nephridiopore.
5. Malpighian tubules
 The excretory tubules of the insect and other terrestrial arthropods
attached to the right digestive tract (midgut)
 The tubules have ends that are immersed in the hemolymph
(circulatory fluid) while the distal ends empty into the gut.
 Malpighian tubules employ secretion to generate the fluid for
released from the body
 Help actively secrete uric acid and ions into the tubules.
 The fluid then passes into the hindgut (intestine and rectum) of the
insect as dilute urine.
 Reabsorption of ions and water occurs in the hindgut wall causing
the formation of uric acid crystals that are released with the feces.