Sm. Vannetten et Jtpw. Vanmaarseveen, MECHANOPHYSIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF THE SUPRAORBITAL LATERAL-LINE CANAL IN RUFFE (ACERINA-CERNUA L), Proceedings - Royal Society. Biological Sciences, 256(1347), 1994, pp. 239-246
In vivo measurements of the motion of the skin covering the supraorbit
al lateral line canal of the ruffe are presented. Stimulation of the l
ateral line with local oscillatory water motion evokes displacement of
the skin which exhibits a characteristic node-antinode pattern along
the length of the canal. Frequency responses of the skin show tuning w
ith resonance frequencies comparable with the 'best frequencies' of th
e cupula, suggesting that cupular dynamics is involved in the generati
on of the node-antinode pattern. Indeed, the experiments show that the
node-antinode pattern is caused by the presence of the cupulae in the
canal. A hydrodynamic model describing the dynamics of the skin is pr
esented. The model accounts for many of the observed phenomena, and le
ads to the conclusion that the motion of the skin reflects the microme
chanical properties of the sensory bundles of the hair cells underlyin
g the cupula.