Cartilage is nourished by diffusion of nutirents from capillaries in the adjacent perichondrial connective tissue or synovial fluid. The cells embedded in the matrix, chondrocytes, as might be expected, exhibit low metabolic activity and cartilage is slow to repair after injury. There are three types of cartilage based on variations in matrix composition. The most common form is hyaline cartilage. Hyaline cartilage is found in the fetus where it forms the fetal skeleton that is later ossified and becomes bone.
Elastic cartilage contains many elastic fibers giving it a yellowish color.
Fibrocartilage contains a dense network of collagen fibers and is found in the intervertebral discs, attchments of ligaments to catilagenous surface of bones, and in the pubic symphysis. There is no perichondrium in fibrocartilage and none covering hyaline cartilage at joint surfaces. The skeletal system acts as levers to convert muscle contraction into movement, a storage depot for calcium and other physiologically important ions, blood cell formation sites and support and protection of fleshy structures. Bone tissue, as the chief component of the skeletal system, is specialized to aid in these functions. This type of connective tissue is composed of calcified bone matrix surrounding osteocytes, osteoblasts, and osteoclasts.