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Journal of Experimental Biology 41,525-534 (1964)
Published by Company of Biologists 1964

Nervous Control of Chromatophores in Teleost Fishes : I. Electrical Stimulation in the Minnow (Phoxinus Phoxinus (L.))

J. D. PYE ¹

¹ Department of Zoology, Bedford College, University of London; Department of Zoology, King's College, Strand, London, W.C. 2

1. Electrical threshold curves have been obtained for the stimulation by square and saw-tooth pulses of peripheral melanophore-aggregating nerve fibres in the minnow, Phoxinus. The responses show complete independence of pulse repetition rate over a wide range.

2. The results of von Gelei on the electrical stimulation of the spinal cord in ergotamine-treated minnows have been confirmed but it is found that the melanophore-dispersing activity may pass forwards or backwards from a stimulating electrode at any level of the spinal cord.

3. Identical results have been obtained for melanophore-aggregating activity in non-ergotized fish. All the spinal responses are slow and incomplete at repetition rates below 10/sec.

4. Von Gelei's arguments for mapping the pathways of melanophore-dispersing nerve fibres are shown to be insupportable.