title: Resting discharge and sensitivity of ampullary electroreceptors in Clarias gariepinus related to convergence ratio during ontogeny.
abstract: The ampullary electroreceptor organs of the teleost fish Clarias gariepinus converge to single afferent neurons. During the first 4 months of ontogeny the convergence ratio (CR) increases from 1 to 3. Extracellular single-unit recordings show that a 3-fold increase in CR results on average in a 3.6-fold increase in sensitivity measured at stimulus frequencies of 2, 8 and 20 Hz, and in a small but significant 1.1-fold increase in resting discharge. Adaptation of the primary afferents could account for the differences between changes in sensitivity and resting discharge.
authors.affiliation: University of Utrecht, Laboratory of Comparative Physiology, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: van Ieperen
mesh_terms: D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D003391:Cranial Nerves / Q000502:physiology*; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005399:Fishes / Q000254:growth & development*; D008675:Metamorphosis, Biological; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*