Pacemaker mechanisms in the heart of the primitive crustacean Triops l
ongicaudatus were examined electrophysiologically. The heart is tubula
r and the heart wall consists of a single layer of myocardial cells. N
o nerve cells were found in the heart, either with methylene blue vita
l staining or by light microscopy of serial sections. The heart beats
rhythmically at a frequency of 120 to 240 beats/min, and each beat is
associated with a slow membrane potential change in the heart muscle.
The amplitude of the slow potential varies widely and no spikes appear
on it. The heart muscle cells are electrically copied with each other
and generate synchronous slow potentials. No localized portion of the
heart exhibited a frequency that always preceded the others. The musc
le activity could be phase-shifted by injection of a single brief curr
ent pulse and could be entrained to a lower or higher frequency by rep
eated brief current pulses injected into the muscle cell. The frequenc
y of muscle activity could be changed by the injection of DC current i
nto the muscle cell, and the change in frequency was linearly related
to the intensity of the current, When the intensity of hyperpolarizing
DC current exceeded a certain value, the muscle activity disappeared
abruptly, and the heart stopped beating completely, These results show
clearly that the heartbeat of Triops is myogenic. The heart is diffus
ely myogenic and should be regarded as a single muscle oscillator.