Regulation of cardiac output and gut blood flow in the sea raven,Hemitripterus americanus

Coeliac artery blood flow (F_ca) before and after feeding was recorded in the sea raven. To obtain basic information about the scope of cardiovascular adjustment in the sea raven, a separate series of experiments was performed, in which ventral (P_va), and dorsal (P_da) aortic blood pressure, heart rate (HR) and cardiac output (jaz) were monitored during rest and encouraged exercise.Measurements of coeliac artery flow showed that visceral blood flow is substantial, particularly after feeding, and variations in the visceral vascular conductance affect P_da directly. Simultaneous recordings of intestinal and dorsal aortic blood pressures showed no measurable difference in the two arterial pressures, refuting the idea of a vascular control at the level of the main coeliac artery. Thus, in the sea raven, the adrenergic tonus affecting the visceral vasculature presumably acts at the arteriolar level.Sea ravens encouraged to exercise increased theirjaz by 64%; 32% through HR and 25% through stroke volume. The increase injaz during encouraged exercise was sufficient to produce an elevation of both P_va and P_da, despite an increase of systemic vascular conductance, -adrenoceptor blockade with sotalol, however, severely impaired the increase injaz during exercise, and the change in P_da was reversed.During rest there were both an adrenergic and a cholinergic tonus affecting the HR, as revealed by the effects of injected pharmacological antagonists. Swimming activity decreased the cholinergic tonus, while the adrenergic tonus increased.