The active electrosensory range of<i>Gymnotus omarorum</i>

Pereira, Ana Carolina; Aguilera, Pedro A.; Caputi, Ángel A.

doi:10.1242/jeb.070813

Cited by 21 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 59 publications

(90 reference statements)

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“…Purple lines show the experimentally obtained thresholds for active electrolocation for G. omarorum (continuous line); G. petersii (dotted line); and A. albifrons (dashed line). For the sake of comparison, in every fish we plot (continuous lines) the threshold values of active (in sky-blue) and passive (in black) electroreception, corresponding to those experimentally determined for G. omarorum (values taken from [46], [47], [48], [49], [51]). …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electric Imaging through Evolution, a Modeling Study of Commonalities and Differences

et al. 2014

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Modeling the electric field and images in electric fish contributes to a better understanding of the pre-receptor conditioning of electric images. Although the boundary element method has been very successful for calculating images and fields, complex electric organ discharges pose a challenge for active electroreception modeling. We have previously developed a direct method for calculating electric images which takes into account the structure and physiology of the electric organ as well as the geometry and resistivity of fish tissues. The present article reports a general application of our simulator for studying electric images in electric fish with heterogeneous, extended electric organs. We studied three species of Gymnotiformes, including both wave-type (Apteronotus albifrons) and pulse-type (Gymnotus obscurus and Gymnotus coropinae) fish, with electric organs of different complexity. The results are compared with the African (Gnathonemus petersii) and American (Gymnotus omarorum) electric fish studied previously. We address the following issues: 1) how to calculate equivalent source distributions based on experimental measurements, 2) how the complexity of the electric organ discharge determines the features of the electric field and 3) how the basal field determines the characteristics of electric images. Our findings allow us to generalize the hypothesis (previously posed for G. omarorum) in which the perioral region and the rest of the body play different sensory roles. While the “electrosensory fovea” appears suitable for exploring objects in detail, the rest of the body is likened to a “peripheral retina” for detecting the presence and movement of surrounding objects. We discuss the commonalities and differences between species. Compared to African species, American electric fish show a weaker field. This feature, derived from the complexity of distributed electric organs, may endow Gymnotiformes with the ability to emit site-specific signals to be detected in the short range by a conspecific and the possibility to evolve predator avoidance strategies.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electric Imaging through Evolution, a Modeling Study of Commonalities and Differences

et al. 2014

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“…Based on the analysis of prey-catching behavior in Apteronotus albifrons (MacIver et al, 1997;Nelson and MacIver, 1999), MacIver and colleagues showed that the sensory and motor volumes of A. albifrons are omnidirectional, a result that has been confirmed for Gymnotus omarorum (Pereira et al, 2012;Snyder et al, 2007). A specific motor pattern is in line with the hypothesis of active alignment of sensory and motor capabilities.…”

Section: Sensorimotor Patterns In Electrolocation Behaviormentioning

confidence: 83%

Sensory flow shaped by active sensing: sensorimotor strategies in electric fish

Hofmann

Sanguinetti-Scheck

Künzel

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SummaryGoal-directed behavior in most cases is composed of a sequential order of elementary motor patterns shaped by sensorimotor contingencies. The sensory information acquired thus is structured in both space and time. Here we review the role of motion during the generation of sensory flow focusing on how animals actively shape information by behavioral strategies. We use the well-studied examples of vision in insects and echolocation in bats to describe commonalities of sensory-related behavioral strategies across sensory systems, and evaluate what is currently known about comparable active sensing strategies in electroreception of electric fish. In this sensory system the sensors are dispersed across the animalʼs body and the carrier source emitting energy used for sensing, the electric organ, is moved while the animal moves. Thus ego-motions strongly influence sensory dynamics. We present, for the first time, data of electric flow during natural probing behavior in Gnathonemus petersii (Mormyridae), which provide evidence for this influence. These data reveal a complex interdependency between the physical input to the receptors and the animalʼs movements, posture and objects in its environment. Although research on spatiotemporal dynamics in electrolocation is still in its infancy, the emerging field of dynamical sensory systems analysis in electric fish is a promising approach to the study of the link between movement and acquisition of sensory information.

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“…We do not expect jamming to be a significant impetus for evolutionary change in Gymnotus because the phenomenon occurs only over short distances (Pereira et al, 2012), and yet individual Gymnotus are invariably well spaced in the wild: all species are apparently highly territorial. In contrast, there are strong grounds to suggest that selection against mismating may be an important cause of signal divergences in Gymnotus.…”

Section: Selection From Reproductive Interferencementioning

confidence: 99%

Proximate and ultimate causes of signal diversity in the electric fishGymnotus

Crampton

Rodríguez-Cattáneo

Lovejoy

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SummaryA complete understanding of animal signal evolution necessitates analyses of both the proximate (e.g. anatomical and physiological) mechanisms of signal generation and reception, and the ultimate (i.e. evolutionary) mechanisms underlying adaptation and diversification. Here we summarize the results of a synthetic study of electric diversity in the species-rich neotropical electric fish genus Gymnotus. Our study integrates two research directions. The first examines the proximate causes of diversity in the electric organ discharge (EOD) -which is the carrier of both the communication and electrolocation signal of electric fishes -via descriptions of the intrinsic properties of electrocytes, electrocyte innervation, electric organ anatomy and the neural coordination of the discharge (among other parameters). The second seeks to understand the ultimate causes of signal diversity -via a continent-wide survey of species diversity, species-level phylogenetic reconstructions and field-recorded headto-tail EOD (ht-EOD) waveforms (a common procedure for characterizing the communication component of electric fish EODs). At the proximate level, a comparative morpho-functional survey of electric organ anatomy and the electromotive force pattern of the EOD for 11 species (representing most major clades) revealed four distinct groups of species, each corresponding to a discrete area of the phylogeny of the genus and to a distinct type of ht-EOD waveform. At the ultimate level, our analyses (which emphasize the ht-EOD) allowed us to conclude that selective forces from the abiotic environment have had minimal impact on the communication component of the EOD. In contrast, selective forces of a biotic nature -imposed by electroreceptive predators, reproductive interference from heterospecific congeners, and sexual selection -may be important sources of diversifying selection on Gymnotus signals.

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The active electrosensory range ofGymnotus omarorum

Cited by 21 publications

References 59 publications

Electric Imaging through Evolution, a Modeling Study of Commonalities and Differences

Electric Imaging through Evolution, a Modeling Study of Commonalities and Differences

Sensory flow shaped by active sensing: sensorimotor strategies in electric fish

Proximate and ultimate causes of signal diversity in the electric fishGymnotus

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