Muscle Complexes in the Jaw Apparatus of Teleost Fishes: Structure and Function

Abstract

Striated muscles of the teleost fishes sometimes combine into complicated “supramuscular” complexes. In these complexes, individual muscles are connected into parallel combinations and/or in sequential series. A group of parallel muscles combines their forces to carry out a single powerful functional act. Consistently connected muscles obtain thereby an increased amplitude and speed of movements. For the described “supramuscular” complexes, the term “supermuscle” has been proposed. The paper provides an overview of the features of the structure and the function of the supermuscles of the teleost fishes heads with parallel and sequential structures. A variety of causes for the formation of muscle complexes is discussed for different taxa of Teleostei.