Electroreceptors and Other Specialized Receptors in Lower Vertrebrates

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

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2. General Introduction

   1. General Introduction

      • Theodore H. Bullock

      Pages 1-12

3. Electroreceptors in the Teleost

   1. Anatomy of the Specialized Lateral Line Organs of Electroreception

      • T. Szabo

      Pages 13-58

   2. Physiology of Electroreceptors

      • T. Szabo, A. Fessard

      Pages 59-124

4. Electroreceptors in the Elasmobranch

   1. The Ampullae of Lorenzini

      • Richard W. Murray

      Pages 125-146

5. The Role of Electroreceptors in Animal’s Life

   1. The Detection of Electric Fields from Inanimate and Animate Sources Other Than Electric Organs

      • Ad. J. Kalmijn

      Pages 147-200

   2. The Detection of Electric Fields from Electric Organs

      • Henning Scheich, Theodore H. Bullock

      Pages 201-256

6. Other Specialized Receptors

   1. Lateral-Line Mechano-Receptors in Fishes and Amphibians

      • Erich Schwartz

      Pages 257-278

   2. Pseudobranchial Receptors in Teleosts

      • Pierre Laurent

      Pages 279-296

   3. Thermoreception in Snakes

      • Peter H. Hartline

      Pages 297-312

7. Back Matter

   Pages 313-335

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The originality of this volume is to reveal to the reader the fascination of some unfamiliar sensory organs that are sometimes ignored and often misunderstood. These receptors have only recently been identified and their functional specificity is in some cases still a matter for discussion. The four classes of sensory organs considered here differ widely from one another in many respects. One might even say that the only thing they have in common is that they belong to cold-blooded vertebrates. These classes are: 1. the directionally sensitive lateral-line mechanoreceptors of fishes and amphi­ bians (Chapter 7); 2. the pseudobranchial organs of some teleosts, equipped with pressoreceptors and at least three other types of receptors (osmo- and chemoreceptors) (Chapter 8); 3. the infrared-sensitive pit organs of some snake families (Chapter 9) ; 4. the various kinds of electroreceptors found in several marine and freshwater fish families (Chapters 2 to 6). The first three classes of receptors mentioned above thus rate only one chapter each, whereas five chapters are devoted to the electroreceptors. Electroreception has aroused enormous interest among physiologists in specialties ranging from molecular biology to animal behavior. The resulting quantity of research and discussion fully justifies this disproportion. However, it cannot be denied that the contents of the volume must appear unbalanced and heterogeneous, yet it should not be perceived as a mere juxtaposition of particular and unrelated cases.

• Fische
• Lurche
• Rezeptor
• anatomy
• animal behavior
• behavior
• biology
• fish
• molecular biology
• physiology
• receptor
• receptors
• teleosts
• vertebrates
• Model vertebrates

• Department of Neurosciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, USA

  T. H. Bullock

• Laboratoire de Neurophysiologie Générale, Station de l’Institut Marey, Paris 16e, France

  A. Fessard

• Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, USA

  P. H. Hartline

• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, USA

  Ad. J. Kalmijn

• Laboratoire des Applications Biologiques, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Strasbourg Cedex, France

  P. Laurent

• Department of Zoology and Comparative Physiology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham 15, Great Britain

  R. W. Murray

• Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie, Am Fassberg, West Germany

  H. Scheich

• II. Zoologisches Institut der Justus Liebig-Universität, Wartweg 95, West Germany

  E. Schwartz

• Department of Neurophysiologie Sensorielle Comparée, Laboratoire de Physiologie Nerveuse CNRS, Gif sur Yvette, France

  T. Szabo

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