Integumentary system of animals

Your integumentary system is your body's outer layer. It's made up of your skin, nails, hair
and the glands and nerves on your skin. Your integumentary system acts as a physical barrier
— protecting your body from bacteria, infection, injury and sunlight.

I. INVERTEBRATES
Simple columnar epithelium
1. Cnidarians
- The Cnidaria Integumentary System consists of epitheliomuscular cells, cnidocytes,
interstitial cells, and nerve cells.
Cnidocytes (sometimes known as "needle cells" assist in paralyzing prey of the animal
Nerve cells trigger motor responses. Intersistal cells are unspecialized cells that are not active
by default, but serve as replacements for dead cells.
2. Worms
- Flatworms integument:
Integument of flatworms is composed of an epidermis (a simple epithelial cell layer). Cells
have cilia on the surface. Epidermis is rich in mucus producing glands. In wet environment
this mucus swells and gives additional protection to the animal. Mucus of parasitic flatworms,
for example tapeworms protects the worm form the effect of the host organism’s digestive
enzymes (tapeworms stay in the intestine of humans, thus they need protection against being
digested by our digestive enzymes).
- Ringworms integument:
Ringworms have a thin cuticle layer on the top of the single celled epidermis, and it is
permeable for respiratory gases (O2 and CO2). Glands of epidermis produce mucus which
keeps cuticle always wet, this is necessary for the diffusion of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Special structures of the integument are the bristles, which help the locomotion of the animal.
Ringworms have two sets of muscles grown together with the epidermis: a circular and a
longitudinal muscle.
3. Shells of snails and shells:
- Shells of snails: Shells of a land snails can be many different sizes depending on species.
Shells are used as protection against predators and weather. Calcium-carbonate is the main
component making up the shell. Snail’s skin is coated in a slimy mucus in order to reduce
friction when moving. A large foot on their bottom contracts and expands in order for it to
move, the mucus makes it smoother. Covering the foot is a protective layer called mantle
(köpönyeg).
- Shells: The shell or exoskeleton is the outer covering that protects and also supports the
animal’s body. Shell is also rigid but outside the body. This is generally used to form the
skeleton which on the inside provides place for the organs and muscles to attach to and also
protects the animal from predators.

4. Arthropods
- Integument of arthropods
Integument of insects is composed of a single layered epidermis and a thick cuticle secreted
by the cells of the epidermis. This thick cuticle is built up from proteins and chitin. Glands in
the epidermis produce a waxy secretion, which is spread over the surface of the cuticle
making it more water resistant. Cuticle does not have the same thickness everywhere over the
body, it is just a thin membrane like layer over the joints and the attachment points of the
bigger body parts. It allows for great range of movement. In addition to protection cuticle is
important for the movement of arthropods, as it provides attachment surface for the skeletal
muscles which move the jointed legs and the wings. Wings are not real limbs but are
extensions of the cuticle of the thorax. Wings do not have muscles. Sensory hairs on the
surface receive and transmit mechanical signals to the epidermis. As cuticle is not a living
tissue, it is not composed of cells, it can not grow with the animal, it needs to be shed from
time to time. During moulting, the old cuticle is broken down by the moulting liquid secreted
by the epidermis. During sheding the old cuticle new cuticle is continuously forming. Molting
is a sensitive period for arthropods, as they do not have the hard protecting exoskeleton.
Arthropods move with the help of their jointed legs and the groups with wings (insects) use
their wings for locomotion also. Legs are moved with pairs of muscles, which either flex or
extend the limb. Every segment of the legs has its own muscles which attach to the internal
surface of the cuticle covering the legs.

II. VERTEBRATES
Epidermis:
- cornified or non-cornified
- always stratified
 - squamous epithelium
- glands
Dermis:
- loose connective tissue (areolar)
Subcutaneous layer:
- adipose tissue

1. Fish:
Fishes have a more or less smooth, flexible skin dotted with various kinds of glands, both
unicellular and multicellular. Mucus-secreting glands are especially abundant. Poison glands,
which occur in the skin of many cartilaginous fishes and some bony fishes, are frequently
associated with spines on the fins, tail, and gill covers. Photophores, light-emitting organs
found especially in deep-sea forms, may be modified mucous glands. They may be used as
camouflage or to permit recognition, either for repulsion to delimit territory or for attraction in
courtship.
Also formed within the skin of many fishes are the skeletal elements known as scales. They
may be divided into several types on the basis of composition and structure. Cosmoid scales,
characteristic of extinct lungfishes and not found in any fishes today, are similar to the ganoid
scales of living species. Placoid scales (or denticles) are spiny, toothlike projections seen only
in cartilaginous fishes. Ganoid scales, sometimes considered a modification of the placoid
type, are chiefly bony but are covered with an enamel-like substance called ganoin. These
rather thick scales, present in some primitive bony fishes, are well developed in the gars.
Cycloid scales appear to be the inner layer of ganoid or cosmoid scales. Found in carps and
similar fishes, they are thin, large, round or oval, and arranged in an overlapping pattern;
growth rings are evident on the free edges. Ctenoid scales are similar to cycloid, except that
they have spines or comblike teeth along their free edges; these scales are characteristic of the
higher bony fishes—perches and sunfishes, for example. Some fishes, such as catfishes and
some eels, have no scales.
Among the cartilaginous fishes, sharks have a very tough skin. Scattered over it are denticles,
each with a pulp cavity, around the edge of which is a layer of odontoblasts. These cells
secrete the dentine, or calcareous material, of the scale. Outside the dentine is the enamel,
secreted by the overlying ectoderm. When the denticles pierce through the ectoderm, no more
enamel can be added.
The dominant modern fishes, teleosts, are characterized by bony scales covered with skin.
The epithelium of a trout’s epidermis provides the animal with an inert covering of keratin.
The scales lie in the dermis as thin, overlapping plates with the exposed part bearing the
pigment cells. The scale is deposited in a series of annual rings, since its growth occurs
rapidly in spring and summer and rarely in winter.
2. Amphibians:
The amphibian epidermis has five to seven layers of cells formed from a basal stratum
germinativum. At the skin surface, in contact with the external environment, the cells are
keratinized to form a stratum corneum, which is best developed in amphibians that spend
most of their time on land. The cells of this horny layer are not continuously shed but are
periodically molted in sheets. Molting is controlled by the pituitary and thyroid glands but is
unaffected by sex hormones. The wartiness of toads results from local thickenings.
Some amphibian families have disklike pads on their digits for adherence to underlying
surfaces. During the breeding season the males of anurans (frogs and toads) and urodeles
(salamanders and newts) develop nuptial pads on some digits of the forelimbs, which
facilitate firm gripping of the females; the pads are induced to form by androgenic (male)
hormones.
The dermis is two-layered, having an outer and looser stratum spongiosum and an inner
stratum compactum. Although some amphibians have external gills or internal lungs, for
many the skin is a vital respiratory organ, and the dermis is richly supplied with blood vessels
and lymph spaces. Chromatophores are located just below the junction of the dermis with the
epidermis. The numerous mucous and poison glands originate from nests of epidermal cells
that grow down into the dermis.
3. Reptiles:
Reptile skin (integument) is comprised of two main layers, the epidermis and the dermis.
Epidermis: characterized by complete covering of keratin (the same stuff that makes up
mammalian hair and mammalian, avian, and reptilian nails/claws also makes up the plates we
call "scales"). Reptiles have dry, scaly skin. But they don't need moisturizer! Their special
covering actually helps them hold in moisture and lets them live in dry places. Reptile scales
are not separate, detachable structures -- like fish scales.
4. Birds:
The integumentary system consists of the skin, the feathers and the appendages (claws and
beak). The skin covers the majority of the body and contains glands in the outer ear canal and
the preen gland at the base of the tail, that the bird uses to preen its feathers.
Birds have a thin and delicate epidermis, or skin, compared to other vertebrates. Their skin
produces specialized structures called feathers, which is one of the unique characteristics of
birds. Feathers are made up of keratin, a flexible protein that also forms the hair and
fingernails of mammals. Avian integument is thin, elastic, and loosely attached to the body,
giving birds the freedom of movement needed for flight. Its epidermis is both keratinized and
lipogenic, and the skin as a whole acts as a sebaceous secretory organ.
5. Mammals:
The integumentary system includes the skin and its specialized derivatives, including the
hairs, nails, sweat and sebaceous glands. The mammary glands and teeth are also considered
as components of the integumentary system. The system develops from surface ectoderm,
mesoderm and neural crest cells.
Skin and hair. The skin of mammals is constructed of two layers, a superficial nonvascular
epidermis and an inner layer, the dermis, or corium. The two layers interlock via fingerlike
projections (dermal papillae), consisting of sensitive vascular dermis projecting into the
epidermis.