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Journal of Experimental Biology 51,775-785 (1969)
Published by Company of Biologists 1969

The Response of a Proprioceptor to the Undulatory Movements of Dogfish

B. L. ROBERTS ¹

¹ Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, and the Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association, Plymouth

1. Recordings were made from segmental nerve fibres in dogfish while body-wall strips were bent sinusoidally at frequencies and angles comparable with the movements of intact fish.

2. The sensory discharge recorded from a slowly adapting mechanoreceptor in the body wall was proportional to the angular velocity and to the amplitude of the movements.

3. The receptor discharged bursts of sensory impulses during every movement cycle near to the time of maximum velocity.

4. The impulse frequency and the number of potentials in each sensory burst was dependent on the frequency of the bending movement. The number of active units depended on the angle of displacement and on the position of the receptor.

5. These experiments show that this mechanoreceptor could provide information about the frequency and the angle of bending of the body of dogfish during swimming movements.