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Electroreception pp 47–67Cite as

Morphology of Electroreceptive Sensory Organs

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Part of the book series: Springer Handbook of Auditory Research ((SHAR,volume 21))

6. Summary

The morphology of electroreceptive organs in lampreys and their larvae, different fishes, aquatic amphibians, and monotreme mammals is described. The sense organs vary from superficial end buds in lampreys, to ampullary organs and tuberous organs in many fishes and amphibians, to specialized mucous glands in the monotremes. The sensory cells are quite different. Some have a bundle of apical microvilli, as in lampreys and many teleost fishes. Cartilaginous and non-teleost fishes have a single apical cilium that in some species is surrounded by a few microvilli. Caecilian and urodele amphibians may have both a cilium and microvilli. Only the monotremes lack specialized sensory cells, possessing instead naked nerve endings connected to mucous glands. In all electroreceptive organs examined, only afferent nerve endings have been identified.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoophysiology, University of Aarhus, DK 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Jørgen Mørup Jørgensen

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  1. Jørgen Mørup Jørgensen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosciences School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0240, USA

    Theodore H. Bullock

  2. Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14583, USA

    Carl D. Hopkins

  3. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Arthur N. Popper

  4. Parmly Hearing Institute and Department of Psychology, Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60626, USA

    Richard R. Fay

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Jørgensen, J.M. (2005). Morphology of Electroreceptive Sensory Organs. In: Bullock, T.H., Hopkins, C.D., Popper, A.N., Fay, R.R. (eds) Electroreception. Springer Handbook of Auditory Research, vol 21. Springer, New York, NY . https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-28275-0_3

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