The Effect of Hydrostatic Pressure Cycles on the Activity of Young Plaice Pleuronectes Platessa

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Abstract
The responses of marine animals to changes in hydrostatic pressure have been widely studied (see reviews by Knight-Jones & Morgan, 1966; Fliigel, 1972; Nay lor & Atkinson, 1972). Most of these studies, however, have been concerned with invertebrates, particularly Crustacea, and few deal with fish (Gordon, 1970). Blaxter's (1978) review of baroreception summarizes recent work in this field and points out that a limitation of many experiments has been the use of sudden, rather than gradual, pressure changes. The limitation is especially true with respect to fish. This paper describes the results of experiments in which young plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.) were subjected to hydrostatic pressure cycles of varying amplitude and frequency in order to describe the response to such pressure cycles, to determine the threshold of the response and to relate the response to the fish's behaviour in the sea.