The Senses of Fish : Adaptations for the Reception of Natural Stimuli

Fish comprise more than 50% of all living vertebrates and are found in a wide range of highly diverse habitats like the deep sea, the shoreline, tide pools, tropical streams and sweetwater ponds. During evolution, the senses of fish have adapted to the physical conditions of the environment in which different species live. As a result, the senses of fish exhibit a remarkable diversity that allows different species to deal with the physical constraints imposed by their habitat. In addition, fish have evolved several `new' sensory systems that are unique to the aquatic environment. In this book, examples of adaptation and refinement are given for six sensory systems: The visual system, The auditory system, The olfactory system, The mechanosensory lateral line system, The taste system, The electrosensory system. In each case, the environmental conditions under which a particular group of fish lives are analyzed. This is followed by a description of morphology and physiology of the sensory system and by an evaluation of its perceptional capabilities. Finally, the sensory adaptations to the particular conditions that prevail in the habitat of a species are highlighted. The various examples from different groups of fish presented in this book demonstrate the impressive capability of fish sensory systems to effectively overcome physical problems imposed by the environment. Front Matter....Pages i-xvii A Fish’s Eye View of Habitat Change....Pages 1-30 The Photoreceptors and Visual Pigments of Sharks and Sturgeons....Pages 31-54 Chemosensory Systems in Fish: Structural, Functional and Ecological Aspects....Pages 55-89 Taste and Olfactory Stimuli and Behavior in Fishes....Pages 90-108 Olfactory Imprinting in Salmon: New Models and Approaches....Pages 109-127 Sensory Brain Areas in Deep Sea Slickheads, Eels, and Grenadiers: Comparison of Mesopelagic and Demersal Species....Pages 128-146 Neural Mechanisms of Hearing in Fishes....Pages 147-172 Neuroethology and Sensory Ecology of Teleost Ultrasound Detection....Pages 173-188 The Role of Gas-Holding Structures in Fish Hearing: An Acoustically Evoked Potentials Approach....Pages 189-209 Sound Production and Acoustic Communication....Pages 210-230 Lateral Line Sensory Ecology....Pages 231-264 Neurobiology of the Fish Lateral Line: Adaptations for the Detection of Hydrodynamic Stimuli in Running Water....Pages 265-287 Adaptation of the Rostral Ampullary Electrosense for Plankton Feeding by the Paddlefish....Pages 288-307 Ecological Functions and Adaptations of the Elasmobranch Electrosense....Pages 308-329 Electroreception: Strategies for Separation of Signals from Noise....Pages 330-361 Essay: The Lure of Field Research on Electric Fish....Pages 362-368 Back Matter....Pages 369-377