| Abstract: | Neuromuscular transmission was measured in muscles of spider crabs (Hyas areneus) and lobsters (Homarus americanus). Solutions containing 40 and 10 mM/1 Mg++, which were approximately the same as those measured in the blood of Hyas and Homarus, respectively, were used to soak the preparations prior to testing. In Homarus, neuromuscular transmission was severely depressed by 40 mM Mg++. In spider crabs, neuromuscular transmission was not severely depressed. Although the amount of transmitter released by nerve impulses was reduced, total membrane depolarization during trains of impulses was not reduced because a compensating increase in muscle fiber membrane resistance occurred in Hyas preparations exposed to M Mg++. Hyas, but not Homarus, is physiologically adapted to function at relatively high blood Mg++ concentrations. |
