Temperature and the Force-Velocity Relationship of Live Muscle Fibres from the Teleost Myoxocephalus Scorpius

Small bundles of fast fibres were isolated from the myotomal muscle of the teleost Myoxocephalus scorpius. The temperature-dependence of isometric contractile properties and the force-velocity (P-V) relationship were studied. Fibres were found to deteriorate above 18°C, and the force plateau during tetanic stimulation was not maintained above 15°C. Twitch and tetanic tension (P0) showed optima at around 8°C. Force-velocity curves were fitted using either Hill's hyperbolic equation or a hyperbolic-linear equation (hyp-lin). The best fit to the data was provided by the hyp-lin equation, which gave consistently higher values for unloaded contraction velocity (Vmax): 4.3, 8.1 and 9.5 muscle lengths s−1 at 1, 8 and 12°C, respectively. The P-V relationship was found to become progressively more curved at higher temperatures. Muscle power output calculated from the hyp-lin equation was 123 W kg−1 at 1°C and 256 W kg−1 at 8°C. Curves normalized for P0 and Vmax at each temperature show that the change in curvature is sufficient to increase the relative power output of the muscle by around 15% on decreasing the temperature from 8 to 1°C.