Blood of a Different Color

Feeling blue? Thanks to the presence of hemocyanin in their blood, most spiders have blood that’s colored blue. –a-z-animals.com

You read it first in The Factory in Guide magazine.

Disclaimer: Most people have no problem talking or reading about this subject. However, there are about 15% of people who faint at the sight of blood. So if you are one of those people who get queasy even read about it, you may want to pass on this one. 

Early on in life we learn that our blood is a dark red color. We either take a tumble or get hurt at the playground and have to find our mothers for a bandage, or maybe even an emergency room visit.  Yikes!  

Healthy blood is a dark red color because in it there is a protein called iron. Iron helps us to stay strong and feel good. Without enough iron, we would be anemic and feel tired all the time. The iron mixes with oxygen and circulates through our whole body by our hemoglobin. 

But did you know that there are some creatures that have other colors of blood?  For instance, New Guinea is home to multiple lizard species from the skink family with lime green blood. (Consequently, their tongues, muscles and bones are all various shades of green.)

Like humans, the reptiles have hemoglobin-rich red blood cells. Such cells do not last forever, and when they break down (in our bodies as well as the lizards'), the green-pigmented waste product biliverdin is made. 

Most vertebrates filter this stuff out of their circulatory systems. For them, excess biliverdin can harm cells, neurons and DNA. Yet the lizards have a level of biliverdin in their veins that would kill a human. Moreover, the pigment is so densely-concentrated that it overrides the hemoglobin and makes their blood look green.  Scientists are still researching why this color is dominant for the skinks.

Then there are the crocodile icefish who have no red blood cells or hemoglobin at all!  Because of the extreme cold, dark water where they live, regular blood would get too thick and clog. But the colder water is richer in oxygen. Crocodile icefish absorb some of this oxygen directly from the ocean and send it into their blood streams. The blood itself is a colorless liquid. Amazing!

Octopi and spiders have blue blood. Instead of hemoglobin with iron, they have what is called hemocyanin which contains the protein copper. When this is mixed with oxygen, it causes their blood to be blue.

Peanut worms, duck leeches, and bristle worms, all of which live in the ocean, use the protein hemerythrin to carry oxygen in the blood. Without oxygen, their blood is clear in color. When it carries oxygen, it turns purple!

God has created some very amazing creatures with some amazing creative detail!  As we learn about these creatures, we learn that there is an amazing Creator behind it all and He loves us very much!!

Jeremiah 10:12 says, “He has made the earth by His power. He has established the world by His wisdom…”

—Carol Lyons, Assistant
Discovery Mountain

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.