The circulatory system of fish is quite simple.

It consists of a heart, blood, and blood

vessels. The heart of a fish is a simple muscular structure that is located behind (and below) the
gills. It is enclosed by the pericardial membrane or pericardium.
The heart consists of an atrium, a ventricle, a thin-walled structure known as sinus venosus,
and a tube called bulbus arteriosus. Though it has four parts, the heart of a fish is considered
two-chambered. Unlike humans, the four parts of a fish heart do not form a single organ.
Usually, they are found one behind another.

Blood and Blood Vessels

The blood contains plasma (the fluid portion) and blood cells. The red blood cells or the
erythrocytes contain hemoglobin, a protein that carries oxygen throughout the body. The white
blood cells comprise an indispensable part of the immune system. The thrombocytes perform
functions that are equivalent to the role of platelets in the human body, i.e. they help in blood
clotting.
Blood vessels carry the blood throughout the body. While arteries carry oxygenated blood from
the gills to the rest of the body, veins return deoxygenated blood from different parts of the body
to the heart. Arterioles are small, thin-walled arteries that end in capillaries, while venules are
tiny veins that are continuous with capillaries. Capillaries are minute blood vessels located
within body tissues, and they form the link between arteries and veins.

The cardiovascular system of a fish comprise a heart, veins, arteries, blood, and fine capillaries.
The capillaries are microscopic vessels that form a network called a capillary bed, where the arterial
and venous blood get linked. Capillaries have thin walls that facilitate diffusion, a process through which
oxygen and other nutrients from the arterial blood are transferred into the cells. At the same time,
carbon dioxide and waste materials are moved into the capillaries.
Capillaries with deoxygenated blood (contains carbon dioxide) drain into small veins called venules,
which in turn drain into larger veins. The veins carry the deoxygenated blood into the sinus venosus,
which is like a small collection chamber. The sinus venosus has pacemaker cells that are responsible for
initiating contractions, so that the blood is moved into the thin-walled atrium, which has very few
muscles.
The atrium generates weak contractions so as to push blood into the ventricle. The ventricle is a thick-
walled structure with lots of cardiac muscles. It generates enough pressure to pump the blood
throughout the body. The ventricle pumps blood inside it into bulbus arteriosus, a small chamber with
elastic components.
While bulbus arteriosus is the name of the chamber in teleosts (rayfinned, bony fish), the structure is
known as conus arteriosus in elasmobranchs (fish with cartilaginous skeleton and placoid scales). Conus
arteriosus has many valves and muscles, whereas bulbus arteriosus has no valves. The main function of
this structure is to reduce the pulse pressure generated by the ventricle, in order to avoid damage to the
thin-walled gills.
Gills are the primary respiratory organs of fish. They facilitate exchange of gases, i.e. absorption of
oxygen from water and elimination of carbon dioxide. Arteries carry the oxygenated blood (from the
gills) throughout the body.
Arteries branch into arterioles, which drain into capillaries, where the arterial blood becomes venous
blood, as it supplies oxygen and other nutrients to the cells and absorbs carbon dioxide and waste
materials. The venous blood is carried to the heart, which pumps it to the gills, where the carbon dioxide
gets replaced with oxygen. The oxygenated blood is supplied to the cells in the body, and the cycle
continues.
Though the circulatory system of fish is simple when compared to that of humans and other mammals,
it serves an important purpose by illustrating the different stages of evolution of the circulatory system
in animals. The two-chambered heart is also a matter of research, as it is believed to have played a vital
role in the progressive evolution of the four-chambered heart and circulatory patterns.