Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to I D Lawn.
The hexactinellid sponge Rhabdocalyptus dawsoni is capable of arresting its exhalant water current in response to mechanical and electrical stimuli. The arrest is coordinated by a conduction system with a precise threshold of excitability and a chronaxie of 38 milliseconds. The response is propagated throughout the sponge at a mean velocity of 0.22 centimeter per second, and conduction is unpolarized.
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1. Electrical activity has been recorded from Stomphia coccinea during the behavioural sequence in which the detached anemone settles on to a Modiolus shell. 2. When a responsive tentacle contacts the shell, a short, complex burst of pulses is elicited. These remain confined to the region of contact. The endodermal slow-conduction system (SS2) then begins to fire repetitively (a typical example is 16 SS2 pulses at a mean interpulse interval of 5 s) until the pedal disc begins to inflate. Shell-tentacle contact is essential for stimulation of SS2 activity. 3. The complete response, apart from local bending of the column, may be reproduced by electrical stimulation of the SS2 alone. As few as 10 stimuli at frequencies between 1 shock/s and 1 shock/10 s are required to elicit the response.