Summary

The dogfish oculomotor system can be modelled as a first order linear system (Montgomery, 1983) and hence can be specified by its characteristic frequency and gain. This paper describes the effect of temperature on these two parameters. The characteristic frequency is directly related to temperature, and decreases from 0.31 Hz at 20°C to 0.15 Hz at 10°C. The gain is inversely related to temperature, increasing approximately 2.5 times over a temperature drop from 20 °C to 10 °C. It is argued that the increase in gain with falling temperature can be attributed to an increase in relaxation time of the muscle, and that it is likely to be of biological significance in maintaining reflex performance in a poikilothermic animal.