Temperature Characteristics for Pulsation Frequency in Gonionemus

The frequency of contraction of the bell of Gonionemus was studied in relation to temperature, with intact animals and also where different operations were made on the nervous system. A number of values of micro are found for intact animals namely 8,100+/-, 10,500+/-, 32,000+/- and 22,500+/-, with critical temperatures at 9.6 degrees , 12.3 degrees , and 14.0 degrees . Four different classes of operations were used: (1) Animals where the nerve ring was cut on two opposite sides of the bell; the micro values found are 10,500+/- and 21,300+/-, with a critical temperature at 13.4 degrees . (2) Animals with four cuts through the nerve ring gave micro = 10,600 +/- and micro = 21,000, with a critical temperature at 13.1 degrees . (3) In animals where the bell was cut in half the temperature characteristic was found to be 16,900. And finally (4) in the animals where the nerve ring was totally removed micro values of 8,100, 16,000+/-, and 29,000 were found, with critical temperatures at 15.0 degrees and 9.4 degrees . These results are discussed from the standpoint of the theory which supposes that definite "temperature characteristics" may be associated with the functional activity of particular elements in a complex functional unit, and that these elements may be separately studied and identified by suitable experimental procedures involving the magnitudes of the respective temperature characteristics and the locations of associated critical temperatures. The swimming bell of medusae with its marginal sense organs permits a fairly direct approach to such questions. It is found that even slight injuries to the marginal nerve ring, for example, produce specific modifications in the temperature relations which are different from those appearing when the organism is cut in half.