The effect of pressure on the lateral swimming muscle of the European eel Anguilla anguilla and the deep sea eel Histiobranchus bathybius; results of Challenger cruise 6B/85.
1. The viability of Histiobranchus lateral muscle was prolonged up to 7 times by recompression of the tissue. 2. The maximum twitch contraction force of both Anguilla and Histiobranchus was recorded at a pressure between 150 and 350 atm. At 1 atm Anguilla developed 60% maximum force and Histiobranchus 10-20% maximum force. 3. Twitch contraction time doubled for a pressure increase of 400 atm. This effect is predicted to halve the maximum swimming speed at 4000 m and is discussed in relation to muscle force and anaerobic support.
D000811:Anguilla / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D004524:Eels / Q000502:physiology*; D005412:Flatfishes / Q000502:physiology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D009132:Muscles / Q000502:physiology*; D011312:Pressure; D013026:Space Flight; D013045:Species Specificity; D013550:Swimming