Ap. Summers et La. Ferry-graham, Ventilatory modes and mechanics of the hedgehog skate (Leucoraja erinacea): Testing the continuous flow model, J EXP BIOL, 204(9), 2001, pp. 1577-1587
The movement of water across the gills of non-ram-ventilating fishes involv
es the action of two pumps: a pressure pump that pushes water across the gi
lls from the oropharyngeal to the parabranchial cavity, and a suction pump
that draws water across the gills from the oropharyngeal into the parahranc
hial cavity. Together, the two are thought to keep water flowing continuous
ly antero-posteriorly through the head of the respiring animal. However, th
ere is evidence that the pressure and suction pumps do not always work in p
erfect phase in elasmobranch fishes, leading to periods of higher pressure
in the parabranchial than in the oropharyngeal cavity. We investigated the
existence and consequence of such pressure reversals in the hedgehog skate
Leucoraja erinacea using pressure transducers, sonomicrometry and flow visu
alization including internal visualization using endoscopy. We noted four p
atterns of respiration in the experimental skates distinguished by the flow
pattern at the three openings into the respiratory system: (1) in through
the spiracle only, (2) in through the mouth + spiracle, (3) in through the
mouth only, and (4) the mouth held open throughout the respiratory cycle. T
he first two were by far the dominant modes recorded from experimental anim
als. We determined that pressure reversals exist in the hedgehog skate, and
that the gill bars adducted during such pressure reversals. Direct observa
tion confirmed that these pressure reversals do correspond to pulsatile flo
w across the gills. During mouth+spiracle ventilation the flow completely r
eversed direction, flowing from the parabranchial chambers back across the
gills acid into the oropharyngeal cavity. Finally, we addressed the utility
of sonomicrometry as a technique for determining kinematics in aquatic ani
mals. Despite some problems involving errors inherent to the system design,
we found the technique useful for complementing such techniques as pressur
e measurements and endoscopy.