Two slow conduction systems co-ordinate shell-climbing behaviour in the sea anemone Calliactis parasitica.
1. Pulses in two slow conducting systems, the ectodermal SS 1 and the endodermal SS 2, were recorded during shell-climbing behaviour. The mean pulse interval of SS 1 pulses was 7-4 s and that of SS 2 pulses was 6-4 s. Activity in both systems may arise as a sensory response of tentacles to shell contact, but the SS 1 and SS 2 may not share the same receptors. 2. Electrical stimulation of the SS 1 and SS 2 together, at a frequency of 1 shock every 5 s, elicits shell-climbing behaviour in the absence of a shell. 3. Low-frequency nerve-net activity (about 1 pulse every 15 s) accompanies column bending during both normal and electrically elicited responses. This activity probably arises as a result of column bending and is not due to a sensory response to the shell.
D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D003063:Cnidaria / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D007257:Information Theory; D008124:Locomotion; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009424:Nervous System Physiological Phenomena; D012615:Sea Anemones / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors