spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online December 14, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 118-128 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02600
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Uyeno, T. A.
Right arrow Articles by Kier, W. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Uyeno, T. A.
Right arrow Articles by Kier, W. M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Electromyography of the buccal musculature of octopus (Octopus bimaculoides): a test of the function of the muscle articulation in support and movement

Theodore A. Uyeno* and William M. Kier

Department of Biology, CB# 3280 Coker Hall, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280, USA

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: uyeno{at}bio.unc.edu)

Accepted 17 October 2006

The buccal mass musculature of the octopus (Octopus bimaculoides) was studied with electromyography to test the predictions of a previous morphological study in which we suggested that the muscles of the buccal mass serve as both the effectors of movement and as the joint itself, forming a new category of flexible joint termed a `muscle articulation'. The predictions of muscle function were tested by correlating muscle electrical activity in isolated buccal masses with spontaneous beak movements. Bipolar electromyography electrodes were implanted in the various beak muscles and beak position was recorded simultaneously with an electronic movement monitor (N=14). The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the lateral mandibular muscles produce opening movements of the beaks and provide the first definitive explanation of the opening mechanism. The results are also consistent with the hypothesis that the superior mandibular muscle functions primarily in closing. Co-contraction of the lateral mandibular muscles and the superior mandibular muscles was also observed, suggesting that these muscles may also stabilize the beaks during movement or provide a means of controlling the location of the pivot between the beaks. This study provides an important first test of the predictions of the role of the complex musculature found in muscle articulations such as the cephalopod buccal mass.

Key words: biomechanics, Cephalopoda, electromyography, muscle articulation, Octopus bimaculoides


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?




© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2007