Comparison of different types of muscles

Striated (skeletal) muscles	Non-striated (smooth or visceral) muscles	Cardiac muscles
1.        Striations present	Absent	Absent
2.        Voluntary in action	Involuntary	Involuntary
3.        Muscle fibres are long and cylindrical with blunt ends	Muscle fibres are long spindle shaped with pointed ends	Muscle fibres are short, cylindrical with flat ends
4.        Fibres are unbranched	Unbranched	Branched
5.        Fibres are multi-nucleated	Uninucleated	Uninucleated
6.        Sarcoplasmic reticulum is well developed	Poorly developed	Poorly developed
7.        Sarcomeres present	Absent	Present
8.        Intercalated discs absent	Absent	Present
9.        Numerous mitochondria and glycogen granules are present	Less mitochondria and glycogen granules are present	Numerous mitochondria and glycogen granules are present
10.     Seen attached to skeleton	Seen in internal organs	Seen in the walls of heart
11.     E.g. Biceps muscle	E.g. intestinal muscles	E.g. heart muscles

Posted in: Comparison,Physiology and anatomy