scholarly journals Physiological Bases of Feeding Behaviour in Salamanders: Do Motor Patterns Vary with Prey Type?

1989 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
pp. 343-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. REILLY ◽  
G. V. LAUDER

Muscle activity patterns (motor patterns) of the jaw musculature of all vertebrates studied to date (primarily fishes and amniotes) vary considerably when they feed on different types of prey. Previous data on buccal pressure patterns suggested that feeding in the aquatic salamander Ambystoma mexicanum (Shaw), is highly stereotyped. This hypothesis was tested by quantifying the motor pattern used during feeding on two prey types: earthworms and guppies. Twenty-nine variables were measured from the activity pattern of six cranial muscles in the feeding mechanism of Ambystoma mexicanum. These variables included the area under the electromyogram of each muscle, relative muscle onset times, and the amplitudes and durations of muscle bursts. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses demonstrate that the feeding motor pattern of Ambystoma mexicanum is stereotyped and does not change with prey type, in contrast to motor patterns of other vertebrates studied to date. Individual salamanders use significantly different motor patterns from one another during feeding, but do not alter their motor pattern during feeding on different prey.

1989 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
pp. 359-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER C. WAINWRIGHT

This study examines patterns of variation in 15 electromyographic (EMG) variables measured from recordings of pharyngeal jaw muscle activity during prey processing in four species of the perciform fish family Haemulidae. Two questions were of primary interest. (1) Are motor patterns conserved across the four species? (2) Do the fishes alter (modulate) muscle activity patterns when feeding on different prey types? The experimental design used allowed the partitioning of variance in EMG variables among species, among individuals within species, among days within individuals, among feedings within days, and among prey types. Only one variable exhibited a significant species effect, indicating that the four species used virtually the same motor pattern during prey processing. In response to three prey types differing in hardness, all four species demonstrated an ability to modulate several EMG variables that characterized the intensity of electrical activity. However, variables characterizing the relative timing of muscle activities were not influenced by prey type. A significant variance component was found among recording days and, together with the possibility of variation among experimental preparations, this raises questions about the extent of previously reported inter-individual variation in EMGs. These results support a growing data base on aquatic feeding in lower vertebrates which finds that: (1) motor patterns tend to be highly conserved among closely related taxa; (2) the ability to modulate motor patterns in response to different prey types appears to be a general property of teleost fish feeding mechanisms; and (3) variation in experimental EMG data is ubiquitous and, when unaccounted for, confounds comparisons among treatment groups.


2000 ◽  
Vol 203 (20) ◽  
pp. 3161-3176 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.R. Grubich

This study explores the evolution of molluscivory in the marine teleost family Sciaenidae by comparing the motor activity patterns of the pharyngeal muscles of two closely related taxa, the molluscivorous black drum (Pogonias cromis) and the generalist red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). Muscle activity patterns were recorded simultaneously from eight pharyngeal muscles. Electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded during feeding on three prey types that varied in shell hardness. Canonical variate and discriminant function analyses were used to describe the distinctness of drum pharyngeal processing behaviors. Discriminant functions built of EMG timing variables were more accurate than muscle activity intensity at identifying cycles by prey type and species. Both drum species demonstrated the ability to modulate pharyngeal motor patterns in response to prey hardness. The mean motor patterns and the canonical variate space of crushing behavior indicated that black drum employed a novel motor pattern during molluscivory. The mollusc-crushing motor pattern of black drum is different from other neoteleost pharyngeal behaviors in lacking upper jaw retraction by the retractor dorsalis muscle. This functional modification suggests that crushing hard-shelled marine bivalves requires a ‘vice-like’ compression bite in contrast to the shearing forces that are applied to weaker-shelled fiddler crabs by red drum and to freshwater snails by redear sunfish.


1982 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-211
Author(s):  
ANDREW D. McCLELLAN

Feeding, regurgitation, and rejection in the marine gastropod Pleurobranchaea all involve similar but not identical rhythmic movements of buccal mass structures such as the radula, jaws and lips. The part of the motor pattern which produces rhythmic radula movement, as recorded in the major external muscles of the buccal mass of behaving semi-intact preparations, was similar during the three different types of behaviour, suggesting that they share a common motor-pattern generator. Other parts of the motor pattern were only obviously different during the vomiting phase of regurgitation. Differences in the function and motor patterns of feeding and rejection are presumably accounted for by differences in the activity of muscles which could not be recorded from in this study (e.g. jaw muscles). A general conclusion is that buccal rhythms in gastropods cannot automatically be assumed to underlie feeding, and this is particularly true for dissected preparations which do not execute a clear behavioural response. It would be necessary either to record motor activity that is unique for a given behaviour, or to employ preparations which execute unambiguous behavioural responses.


1997 ◽  
Vol 200 (9) ◽  
pp. 1369-1381 ◽  
Author(s):  
A P Baader

Semi-intact tethered preparations were used to characterize neuronal activity patterns in midbody ganglia of the medicinal leech during crawling. Extra- and intracellular recordings were obtained from identified interneurons and from motor neurons of the longitudinal and circular muscles during crawling episodes. Coordinated activities of nine excitatory and inhibitory motor neurons of the longitudinal and circular muscles were recorded during the appropriate phases of crawling. Thus, during crawling, the leech uses motor output components known to contribute to other types of behavior, such as swimming or the shortening/local bending reflex. Interneurons with identified functions in these other types of behavior exhibit membrane potential oscillations that are in phase with the behavior pattern. Therefore, the recruitment of neuronal network elements during several types of behavior occurs not only at the motor neuron level but also involves interneurons. This applies even to some interneurons that were previously thought to have dedicated functions (such as cells 204 and 208 and the S cell). The function of neuronal circuitries in producing different types of behavior with a limited number of neurons is discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce C Jayne

Synopsis Animals move in diverse ways, as indicated in part by the wide variety of gaits and modes that have been described for vertebrate locomotion. Much variation in the gaits of limbed animals is associated with changing speed, whereas different modes of snake locomotion are often associated with moving on different surfaces. For several decades different types of snake locomotion have been categorized as one of four major modes: rectilinear, lateral undulation, sidewinding, and concertina. Recent empirical work shows that the scheme of four modes of snake locomotion is overly conservative. For example, during aquatic lateral undulation, the timing between muscle activity and lateral bending changes along the length of the snake, which is unlike terrestrial lateral undulation. The motor pattern used to prevent sagging while bridging gaps also suggests that arboreal lateral undulation on narrow surfaces or with a few discrete points of support has a different motor pattern than terrestrial lateral undulation when the entire length of the snake is supported. In all types of concertina locomotion, the distance from the head to the tail changes substantially as snakes alternately flex and then extend different portions of their body. However, snakes climbing cylinders with concertina exert forces medially to attain a purchase on the branch, whereas tunnels require pushing laterally to form an anchoring region. Furthermore, different motor patterns are used for these two types of concertina movement. Some snakes climb vertical cylinders with helical wrapping completely around the cylinder, whereas all other forms of concertina bend regions of the body alternately to the left and right. Current data support rectilinear locomotion and sidewinding as being distinct modes, whereas lateral undulation and concertina are best used for defining categories of gaits with some unifying similarities. Partly as a result of different motor patterns, I propose recognizing five and four distinct types of lateral undulation and concertina, respectively, resulting in a total of 11 distinct gaits previously recognized as only four.


1993 ◽  
Vol 180 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. Wainwright ◽  
R. G. Turingan

Teleost fishes typically capture prey with the oral jaws and perform most types of prey- processing behavior with the pharyngeal jaw apparatus. In these fishes, the motor patterns associated with the different stages of feeding are quite distinct, and fish can modify muscle activity patterns when feeding on different prey. We examined motor pattern variation in the queen triggerfish, Balistes vetula, a versatile predator that both captures and processes prey with its oral jaws. During feeding on three prey that differed in hardness and elusiveness, three distinct patterns of behavior could be identified on the basis of patterns of muscle activity: prey capture, buccal manipulation and blowing. During prey capture by suction feeding, the retractor arcus palatini muscle (RAP) commenced activity before the levator operculi muscle (LOP). In both buccal manipulation and blowing, the RAP began activity well after the onset of activity in the LOP. Both prey capture and buccal manipulation motor patterns varied when fish fed on different prey. When capturing hard-shelled and non-elusive prey, B. vetula did not employ suction feeding but, instead, the fish directly bit parts of its prey. The motor pattern exhibited during direct biting to capture prey was different from that during suction feeding, but was indistinguishable from the pattern seen during the repeated cycles of buccal manipulation. Harder prey elicited significantly longer bursts of activity in the jaw adductor muscles than did soft prey. In spite of the involvement of the oral jaws in virtually all stages of feeding, B. vetula shows levels of variation between patterns of behavior and types of prey characteristic of previously studied teleost fishes. Thus, the coupling of capture and processing behavior patterns in the repertoire of the oral jaws does not appear to constrain the behavioral versatility of this species.


2004 ◽  
Vol 91 (5) ◽  
pp. 2380-2384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul S. G. Stein ◽  
Susan Daniels-McQueen

Agonist motor neurons usually alternate between activity and quiescence during normal rhythmic behavior; antagonist motor neurons are usually active during agonist motor neuron quiescence. During an antagonist deletion, a naturally occurring motor-pattern variation, there is no antagonist activity and no quiescence between successive bursts of agonist activity. Motor neuron recordings of normal fictive rostral scratching in the turtle displayed rhythmic alternation between activity and quiescence for hip flexors, knee flexors, and knee extensors. Knee-flexor activity occurred during knee-extensor quiescence. During a hip-extensor deletion, a variation of rostral scratching, rhythmic hip-flexor bursts occurred without intervening hip-flexor quiescence. There were 3 distinct patterns of knee motor activity during the cycle before or after a hip-extensor deletion. In most cycles, there was knee flexor-extensor rhythmic alternation. In some cycles, termed knee-flexor deletions, there was no knee-flexor activity and rhythmic knee-extensor bursts occurred without intervening knee-extensor quiescence. In other cycles, termed knee-extensor deletions, there was no knee-extensor activity and rhythmic knee-flexor bursts occurred without intervening knee-flexor quiescence. The concept of a module refers to a population of motor neurons and interneurons with similar activity patterns; interneurons in a module coordinate agonist and antagonist motor neuron activities, either with excitation of agonist motor neurons and interneurons, or with inhibition of antagonist motor neurons and interneurons. Previous studies of hip-extensor deletions support the concept of a rhythmogenic hip-flexor module. The knee-related deletions described here support the concept of rhythmogenic knee-flexor and knee-extensor modules linked by reciprocal inhibition.


1986 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 1189-1207
Author(s):  
B Ó Huallacháin

The conventional approach to assessing structural change in regional input – output tables is to measure the impact of coefficient change on the estimation of outputs and multipliers. The methods developed and tested in this paper focus exclusively on the coefficients. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses can be used to identify and measure various types of changes ranging from coefficient instability to changes in interindustry relationships as a system. A distinction is made between structural changes in input relationships and those in output relationships. The methods are tested by using Washington State data for the years 1963 and 1967. The results are compared with previous analyses of change in these data.


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