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The Senses of Fish pp 330–361Cite as

Electroreception: Strategies for Separation of Signals from Noise

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Abstract

The electric sense is ancestral to fishes and is present in most non-teleosts as well as certain teleost species. The electrosensory world of fishes is rich with electric fields from a multitude of sources includ- ing the earth’s magnetic field and the bodies of all aquatic organisms including the electrosensing fish, itself. The fish’s exquisite sensitivity to these fields allows it to orient, navigate, communicate and even detect and localize other fish, both prey and conspecifics. Electroreceptors are of two basic morphologi- cal types, ampullary and tuberous. Ampullary receptors, the ancestral type, are sensitive to extremely weak, low-frequency electric signals. Tuberous receptors represent a specialization of the weakly electric teleost fishes and are most sensitive to higher frequencies near to the frequency of the fish’s own electric organ discharge (EOD).

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  1. Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403, USA

    Clifford H. Keller

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  1. Clifford H. Keller
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  1. Institute for Zoology, Neuroethology/Sensory Ecology, Universität Bonn, Endenicher Allee 11-13, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Gerhard von der Emde

  2. Institute for Zoology, Universität Bonn, Poppelsdorfer Schloss, D-53115, Bonn, Germany

    Joachim Mogdans

  3. 58, Manohar Enclave, Balwant Nagar Extension, Gwalior, 474002, M.P., India

    B. G. Kapoor

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Keller, C.H. (2004). Electroreception: Strategies for Separation of Signals from Noise. In: von der Emde, G., Mogdans, J., Kapoor, B.G. (eds) The Senses of Fish. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1060-3_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1060-3_15

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