Red blood cell are cells present in blood in order to transport oxygen. The only known vertebrates without red blood cells are the crocodile icefish (family Channichthyidae); they live in very oxygen-rich cold water and transport oxygen freely dissolved in their blood. While they no longer use hemoglobin, remnants of hemoglobin genes can be found in their genome. Vertebrate red blood cells consist mainly of hemoglobin, a complex metalloprotein containing heme groups whose iron atoms temporarily bind to oxygen molecules (O) in the lungs or gills and release them throughout the body. Oxygen can easily diffuse through the red blood cell's cell membrane.
Blood red dark red state, but quickly oxygenates upon exposure to air, turning a brighter shade of red. This happens more quickly with smaller volumes of blood such as a pinprick and less quickly from cuts or punctures that cause greater blood flows such as a puncture in the basilic vein: all blood collected during a phlebotomy procedure is deoxygenated blood, and it does not usually have a chance to become oxygenated upon leaving the body. Arterial blood, which is already oxygenated, is also already a brighter shade of red— this is the blood see from a pulsating neck, arm, or leg