Body cavity

A body cavity is an internal space in an animal that contains or surrounds organs and other structures. Cavities provide room for organs and can separate them from surrounding tissues.

Coelom: A fluid-filled body cavity completely lined by mesoderm. The coelom is the best-known cavity type and surrounds many organs in animals such as humans.
Serous fluid: A lubricating fluid secreted by serous membranes into closed body cavities. It reduces friction as organs move against cavity walls and one another.
Thoracic cavity: The chest cavity enclosed by the ribs and diaphragm, containing the lungs and mediastinum. It is a major body cavity whose boundaries organize the heart and lungs.
Hemocoel: A blood-filled body space in animals with an open circulatory system, where organs are bathed directly in hemolymph. Unlike a coelom, it is part of the circulatory system rather than a mesoderm-lined organ space.
Pseudocoelom: A body cavity that is not completely lined by mesoderm. This cavity type distinguishes roundworms and some other animals from coelom-bearing groups.
Mesentery: A fold of peritoneum that attaches organs to the abdominal wall and carries vessels and nerves. It supports abdominal organs within the cavity without fixing them rigidly in place.
Abdominal cavity: The body space below the diaphragm that contains most digestive organs. Its organs and clinical regions are commonly described by their positions within this cavity.
Blastocoel: The fluid-filled cavity inside an early animal embryo’s blastula. It is an embryonic cavity, not the persistent organ-containing cavity meant by the adult anatomical term.
Acoelomate: An animal lacking a fluid-filled body cavity between its gut and body wall. Acoelomates show what body plans look like without an internal cavity around the gut.
Hydrostatic skeleton: A support system in which fluid pressure within a body cavity helps maintain shape and produce movement. In some animals, cavity fluid serves as a structural support as well as surrounding organs.

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