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Gravity response from angular acceleration receptors inOctopus vulgaris

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Summary

  1. 1.

    Single and multi-fiber responses were recorded from the nerves of the angular acceleration receptors (crista) ofOctopus vulgaris under the following conditions: (i) animal stationary, (ii) during angular acceleration from different resting positions relative to gravity, and (iii) during rotation at constant angular velocity. Rotations were around earth-vertical and earth-horizontal axes.

  2. 2.

    In all experiments the discharge frequency of the receptor neurons varied as a function of the orientation of the crista with respect to gravity (Figs. 1, 2).

  3. 3.

    The preparation excluded the possibility of interaction between the crista being observed and other equilibrium receptors; also, the perilymph-endolymph mechanics were not changed. Therefore, it is hypothesized that the angular acceleration receptors ofOctopus are responsive to linear acceleration (gravity) in addition to their well established sensitivity to angular acceleration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Verhaltensphysiologie, Seewiesen

    Bernd-Ulrich Budelmann & Heinz G. Wolff

  2. Zoologisches Institut der Universität Köln, Deutschland

    Bernd-Ulrich Budelmann & Heinz G. Wolff

  3. Universität Regensburg Fachbereich Biologie I, D-8400, Regensburg, Federal Republic of Germany

    Bernd-Ulrich Budelmann

Authors
  1. Bernd-Ulrich Budelmann
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  2. Heinz G. Wolff
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Additional information

The authors thank Dr. D. B. Parker, Oxford, Ohio, for his constructive help in improving the English text, and the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft for the use of their research table at the Zoological Station in Naples. The work was supported in part by grant Wo 160/2 of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

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Budelmann, BU., Wolff, H.G. Gravity response from angular acceleration receptors inOctopus vulgaris . J. Comp. Physiol. 85, 283–290 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00694234

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00694234

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