Distribution and dimension of the T-system in different muscle fiber types in the atlantic hagfish (Myxine glutinosa, L.).

Triad density relative to sarcomeres, size of T-system tubules, sarcomere length, muscle fiber diameter in native and fixed states, and size of myofibrils were measured in four straited muscle fiber types in Atlantic hagfishes (Myxine glutinosa, L.) of different sizes. Traids occur at A/I-injunctions in all fiber types. The density of traids relative to sarcomeres is higher in "white" than in "red" muscle fibers. The T-tubules show no sign of branching. The area of the T-system tubules is 3-4 times the surface area in 80 mum "white" muscle fibers and 1-2 times that in 60 mum "red" fibers. The size of myofibrils is similar in "white", "intermediate", and "red" fibers of m. parietalis, and constant through a large span of animal size. In "white" fibers, increase in diameter up to 90 mum is accompanied by an increase in the number of myofibrils, not by an increase in the individual size of the myofibrils. Above 90 mum, "white" fibers grow by increasing the amount of intermyofibrillar space. This is reflected by an extensive shrinkage of the thicker "white" fibers during the preparative procedure for electron microscopy, a shrinkage that is limited only by complete packing of the myofibrils. "Red" fibers shrink much less.