noun
- a copper-containing protein that transports oxygen in the blood of many invertebrates, especially arthropods and mollusks
Usage: biochemistry
Examples
- Hemocyanin gives the blood of horseshoe crabs its distinctive blue color.
- Unlike hemoglobin, hemocyanin contains copper rather than iron.
- Many spiders and crustaceans rely on hemocyanin for oxygen transport.
- The researcher studied hemocyanin structure in various mollusk species.
- Hemocyanin is found dissolved directly in the hemolymph of invertebrates.
- Scientists compared the efficiency of hemocyanin to that of hemoglobin.