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Sheryl Coombs - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the Lateral Line System
Published in 2014, 2014Co-Authors: Sheryl Coombs, Horst Bleckmann, Richard R Fay, Arthur N PopperAbstract:The Gems of the Past: A Brief History of Lateral Line Research in the Context of the Hearing Sciences.- Morphological Diversity, Development, and Evolution of the Mechanosensory Lateral Line System.- The Hydrodynamic of Flow Stimuli.- The Biophysics of the Fish Lateral Line.- Sensory Ecology and Neuroethology of the Lateral Line.- Information Encoding and Processing by the Peripheral Lateral Line System.- The Central Nervous Organization of the Lateral Line System.- Central Processing of Lateral Line Information.- Functional Overlap and Nonoverlap Between Lateral Line and Auditory Systems.- The Hearing Loss, Protection, and Regeneration in the Larval Zebrafish Lateral Line.
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gentamicin is ototoxic to all hair cells in the fish Lateral Line System
Hearing Research, 2010Co-Authors: William J Van Trump, Sheryl Coombs, Kyle Duncan, Matthew J MchenryAbstract:Hair cells of the Lateral Line System in fish may differ in their susceptibility to damage by aminoglycoside antibiotics. Gentamicin has been reported to damage hair cells within canal neuromasts, but not those within superficial neuromasts. This finding, based on SEM imaging, indicates a distinction in the physiology of hair cells between the two classes of neuromast. Studies concerned with the individual roles of canal and superficial neuromasts in behavior have taken advantage of this effect in an attempt to selectively disable canal neuromasts without affecting superficial neuromast function. Here we present an experimental test of the hypothesis that canal neuromasts are more vulnerable to gentamicin than superficial neuromasts. We measured the effect of gentamicin exposure on hair cells using vital stains (DASPEI and FM1-43) in the neuromasts of Mexican blind cave fish (Astyanaxfasciatus) and zebrafish (Daniorerio). Contrary to the findings of prior studies that used SEM, gentamicin significantly reduced dye uptake by hair cells of both canal and superficial neuromasts in both species. Therefore, Lateral Line hair cells of both neuromast types are vulnerable to gentamicin ototoxicity. These findings argue for a re-evaluation of the results of studies that have used gentamicin to differentiate the roles of the two classes of neuromast in fish behavior.
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the mechanosensory Lateral Line System of the hypogean form of astyanax fasciatus
Environmental Biology of Fishes, 2001Co-Authors: John C Montgomery, Sheryl Coombs, Cindy F BakerAbstract:The mechanosensory Lateral Line is a distributed, hair-cell based System which detects the water flow regime at the surface of the fish. Superficial neuromasts densely scattered over the surface of some cave fish detect the pattern of flow over the surface of the body and are important in rheotactic behaviors and perhaps in the localization of small vibrating sources. Canal neuromasts are very likely also involved in the detection of small planktonic prey, but seem also to play an essential role in replacing vision as the major sense by which blind cave-fish perceive their surroundings. The flow-field that exists around a gliding fish is perturbed by objects in the immediate vicinity, these perturbations are detected by the Lateral Line System. In this way the fish can build up a ‘picture’ of its environment, a process that has been called active hydrodynamic imaging. None of the Lateral Line behaviors exhibited by blind cave fish are necessarily exclusive to these species, but there is some evidence that their Lateral Line capabilities are enhanced with respect to their sighted relatives.
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Smart skins: Information processing by Lateral Line flow sensors
Autonomous Robots, 2001Co-Authors: Sheryl CoombsAbstract:The information processing capabilities of the Lateral Line System and its potential utility in surveying foreign environments and providing sensory guidance to autonomous vehicles in dark or highly turbulent conditions is reviewed. The Lateral Line is a spatially-distributed System of directionally-sensitive sensors that respond to low-frequency water motions created by nearby moving sources, the animal's own movements, the ambient motions of the surrounding water, and distortions in ambient or self-generated motions caused by the presence of stationary objects. While Lateral Line sensors on the skin surface appear to serve behaviors dependent on large-scale stimuli, such as upstream orientation to bulk water flow, other sensors enclosed in fluid-filled canals appear to subserve behaviors requiring information about fine spatial details, such as prey localization. Stimulation patterns along sensor arrays provide rich information about the location, distance and direction of moving sources. The Lateral Line System has also evolved several different mechanisms-static biomechanical filters at the periphery and dynamic neural filters in the central nervous System-for enhancing signal-to-noise ratios in different behavioral contexts, ranging from unexpected events of importance (e.g., an approaching predator or prey) to expected events of little relevance (e.g., the animal's own repeated and regular breathing movements).
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hydrodynamic image formation by the peripheral Lateral Line System of the lake michigan mottled sculpin cottus bairdi
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2000Co-Authors: Sheryl Coombs, James J Finneran, Ruth A ConleyAbstract:Lake Michigan mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdi) have a Lateral-Line-mediated prey-capture behaviour that consists of an initial orientation towards the prey, a sequence of approach movements, and a final strike at the prey. This unconditioned behaviour can be elicited from blinded sculpin in the laboratory by both real and artificial (vibrating sphere) prey. In order to visualize what Lake Michigan mottled sculpin might perceive through their Lateral Line when approaching prey, we have combined anatomical, neurophysiological, behavioural and computational modelling techniques to produce three-dimensional maps of how excitation patterns along the Lateral Line sensory surface change as sculpin approach a vibrating sphere. Changes in the excitation patterns and the information they contain about source location are consistent with behavioural performance, including the approach pathways taken by sculpin to the sphere, the maximum distances at which approaches can be elicited, distances from which strikes are launched, and strike success. Information content is generally higher for Laterally located sources than for frontally located sources and this may explain exceptional performance (e.g. successful strikes from unusually long distances) in response to Lateral sources and poor performance (e.g. unsuccessful strikes) to frontal sources.
Matthew J Mchenry - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the Lateral Line System is not necessary for rheotaxis in the mexican blind cavefish astyanax fasciatus
Integrative and Comparative Biology, 2013Co-Authors: William J Van Trump, Matthew J MchenryAbstract:Synopsis Fish resist being swept downstream by swimming against a current. Mexican blind cavefish (Astyanax fasciatus) exhibit this innate behavior, rheotaxis, without the aid of vision, but it has been debated whether this ability requires sensing flow with the Lateral Line System. We tested the role of the Lateral Line by comparing swimming in a flow chamber in a group of cavefish with a compromised Lateral Line with a control group. Consistent with previous studies, we found that cavefish orient toward flow and more frequently swim upstream at a higher flow speed. We found that these responses to flow were indistinguishable between fish with compromised and functioning Lateral Line Systems. Rheotaxis was also unaltered by exposing fish to varying degrees of turbulence. These results suggest that the sensing of flow is unnecessary for rheotaxis in cavefish. It appears that tactile stimuli provide a sufficient means of executing this behavior in fish and that rheotaxis may not be a major function of the Lateral Line System.
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sensing the strike of a predator fish depends on the specific gravity of a prey fish
The Journal of Experimental Biology, 2010Co-Authors: William J Stewart, Matthew J MchenryAbstract:SUMMARY The ability of a predator fish to capture a prey fish depends on the hydrodynamics of the prey and its behavioral response to the predator9s strike. Despite the importance of this predator–prey interaction to the ecology and evolution of a diversity of fish, it is unclear what factors dictate a fish9s ability to evade capture. The present study evaluated how the specific gravity of a prey fish9s body affects the kinematics of prey capture and the signals detected by the Lateral Line System of the prey during the strike of a suction-feeding predator. The specific gravity of zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) larvae was measured with high precision from recordings of terminal velocity in solutions of varying density. This novel method found that specific gravity decreased by ∼5% (from 1.063, N =8, to 1.011, N =35) when the swim bladder inflates. To examine the functional consequences of this change, we developed a mathematical model of the hydrodynamics of prey in the flow field created by a suction-feeding predator. This model found that the observed decrease in specific gravity due to swim bladder inflation causes an 80% reduction of the flow velocity around the prey9s body. Therefore, swim bladder inflation causes a substantial reduction in the flow signal that may be sensed by the Lateral Line System to evade capture. These findings demonstrate that the ability of a prey fish to sense a predator depends crucially on the specific gravity of the prey.
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gentamicin is ototoxic to all hair cells in the fish Lateral Line System
Hearing Research, 2010Co-Authors: William J Van Trump, Sheryl Coombs, Kyle Duncan, Matthew J MchenryAbstract:Hair cells of the Lateral Line System in fish may differ in their susceptibility to damage by aminoglycoside antibiotics. Gentamicin has been reported to damage hair cells within canal neuromasts, but not those within superficial neuromasts. This finding, based on SEM imaging, indicates a distinction in the physiology of hair cells between the two classes of neuromast. Studies concerned with the individual roles of canal and superficial neuromasts in behavior have taken advantage of this effect in an attempt to selectively disable canal neuromasts without affecting superficial neuromast function. Here we present an experimental test of the hypothesis that canal neuromasts are more vulnerable to gentamicin than superficial neuromasts. We measured the effect of gentamicin exposure on hair cells using vital stains (DASPEI and FM1-43) in the neuromasts of Mexican blind cave fish (Astyanaxfasciatus) and zebrafish (Daniorerio). Contrary to the findings of prior studies that used SEM, gentamicin significantly reduced dye uptake by hair cells of both canal and superficial neuromasts in both species. Therefore, Lateral Line hair cells of both neuromast types are vulnerable to gentamicin ototoxicity. These findings argue for a re-evaluation of the results of studies that have used gentamicin to differentiate the roles of the two classes of neuromast in fish behavior.
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mechanical filtering by the boundary layer and fluid structure interaction in the superficial neuromast of the fish Lateral Line System
Journal of Comparative Physiology A-neuroethology Sensory Neural and Behavioral Physiology, 2008Co-Authors: Matthew J Mchenry, James A Strother, Sietse M Van NettenAbstract:A great diversity of aquatic animals detects water flow with ciliated mechanoreceptors on the body's surface. In order to understand how these receptors mechanically filter signals, we developed a theoretical model of the superficial neuromast in the fish Lateral Line System. The cupula of the neuromast was modeled as a cylindrical beam that deflects in response to an oscillating flow field. Its accuracy was verified by comparison with prior measurements of cupular deflection in larval zebrafish (Danio rerio). The model predicts that the boundary layer of flow over the body attenuates low-frequency stimuli. The fluid-structure interaction between this flow and the cupula attenuates high-frequency stimuli. The number and height of hair cell kinocilia and the dimensions of the cupular matrix determine the range of intermediate frequencies to which a neuromast is sensitive. By articulating the individual mechanical contributions of the boundary layer and the components of cupular morphology, this model provides the theoretical framework for understanding how a hydrodynamic receptor filters flow signals.
Karen P. Maruska - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Cobalt Chloride Treatment Used to Ablate the Lateral Line System Also Impairs the Olfactory System in Three Freshwater Fishes
2016Co-Authors: Julie M Butler, Karen E. Field, Karen P. MaruskaAbstract:Fishes use multimodal signals during both inter- and intra-sexual displays to convey information about their sex, reproductive state, and social status. These complex behavioral displays can include visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and hydrodynamic signals, and the relative role of each sensory channel in these complex multi-sensory interactions is a common focus of neuroethology. The mechanosensory Lateral Line System of fishes detects near-body water movements and is implicated in a variety of behaviors including schooling, rheotaxis, social communication, and prey detection. Cobalt chloride is commonly used to chemically ablate Lateral Line neuromasts, thereby eliminating water-movement cues to test for mechanosensory-mediated behavioral functions. However, cobalt acts as a nonspecific calcium channel antagonist and could potentially disrupt function of all superficially located sensory receptor cells, including those for chemosensing. Here, we examined whether CoCl2 treatment used to ablate the Lateral Line System also impairs olfaction in three freshwater fishes, the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni, goldfish Carassius auratus, and the Mexican blind cavefish Astyanax mexicanus. To examine the impact of CoCl2 on the activity of peripheral receptors, we quantified DASPEI fluorescence intensity of the olfactory epithelium from fish exposed to control and CoCl2 solutions. In addition, we examined brain activation in olfactory processing regions of A. burtoni immersed in either control or cobalt solutions. All three species exposed to CoCl2 had decreased DASPEI staining of the olfactory epithelium, and in A. burtoni, cobalt treatment caused reduced neural activation in olfactory processing regions of the brain. To our knowledge this is the first empirical evidence demonstrating that the same CoCl2 treatment used to ablate the Lateral Line System also impairs olfactory function. These data have important implications for the use of CoCl2 in future research and suggest that previous studies using CoCl2 should be reinterpreted in the context of both impaired mechanoreception and olfaction.
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The mechanosensory Lateral Line System mediates activation of socially-relevant brain regions during territorial interactions
Frontiers Media S.A., 2016Co-Authors: Julie M Butler, Karen P. MaruskaAbstract:Animals use multiple senses during social interactions and must integrate this information in the brain to make context-dependent behavioral decisions. For fishes, the largest group of vertebrates, the mechanosensory Lateral Line System provides crucial hydrodynamic information for survival behaviors, but little is known about its function in social communication. Our previous work using the African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni, provided the first empirical evidence that fish use their Lateral Line System to detect water movements from conspecifics for mutual assessment and behavioral choices. It is unknown, however, where this socially-relevant mechanosensory information is processed in the brain to elicit adaptive behavioral responses. To examine for the first time in any fish species which brain regions receive contextual mechanosensory information, we quantified expression of the immediate early gene cfos as a proxy for neural activation in sensory and socially-relevant brain nuclei from Lateral Line-intact and -ablated fish following territorial interactions. Our in situ hybridization results indicate that in addition to known Lateral Line processing regions, socially-relevant mechanosensory information is processed in the ATn (ventromedial hypothalamus homolog), Dl (putative hippocampus homolog), and Vs (putative medial extended amygdala homolog). In addition, we identified a functional network within the conserved social decision-making network whose co-activity corresponds with mutual assessment and behavioral choice. Lateral Line-intact and –ablated fight winners had different patterns of co-activity of these function networks and group identity could be determined solely by activation patterns, indicating the importance of mechanoreception to co-activity of the social decision-making network. These data show for the first time that the mechanosensory Lateral Line System provides relevant information to conserved decision-making centers of the brain during territorial interactions to mediate crucial behavioral choices such as whether or not to engage in a territorial fight. To our knowledge, this is also the first evidence of a subpallial nucleus receiving mechanosensory input, providing important information for elucidating homologies of decision-making circuits across vertebrates. These novel results highlight the importance of considering multimodal sensory input in mediating context-appropriate behaviors that will provide broad insights on the evolution of decision-making networks across all taxa
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The mechanosensory Lateral Line is used to assess opponents and mediate aggressive behaviors during territorial interactions in an African cichlid fish.
Journal of Experimental Biology, 2015Co-Authors: Julie M Butler, Karen P. MaruskaAbstract:Fish must integrate information from multiple sensory Systems to mediate adaptive behaviors. Visual, acoustic and chemosensory cues provide contextual information during social interactions, but the role of mechanosensory signals detected by the Lateral Line System during aggressive behaviors is unknown. The aim of this study was first to characterize the Lateral Line System of the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni and second to determine the role of mechanoreception during agonistic interactions. The A. burtoni Lateral Line System is similar to that of many other cichlid fishes, containing Lines of superficial neuromasts on the head, trunk and caudal fin, and narrow canals. Astatotilapia burtoni males defend their territories from other males using aggressive behaviors that we classified as non-contact or contact. By chemically and physically ablating the Lateral Line System prior to forced territorial interactions, we showed that the Lateral Line System is necessary for mutual assessment of opponents and the use of non-contact fight behaviors. Our data suggest that the Lateral Line System facilitates the use of non-contact assessment and fight behaviors as a protective mechanism against physical damage. In addition to a role in prey detection, the diversity of Lateral Line morphology in cichlids may have also enabled the expansion of their social behavioral repertoire. To our knowledge, this is the first study to implicate the Lateral Line System as a mode of social communication necessary for assessment during agonistic interactions.
Jacqueline F. Webb - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Post-embryonic development of canal and superficial neuromasts and the generation of two cranial Lateral Line phenotypes
Journal of Morphology, 2016Co-Authors: Emily A. Becker, Nathan C. Bird, Jacqueline F. WebbAbstract:The relatively simple structural organization of the cranial Lateral Line System of bony fishes provides a valuable context in which to explore the ways in which variation in post-embryonic development results in functionally distinct phenotypes, thus providing a link between development, evolution, and behavior. Vital fluorescent staining, histology, and scanning electron microscopy were used to describe the distribution, morphology, and ontogeny of the canal and superficial neuromasts on the head of two Lake Malawi cichlids with contrasting Lateral Line canal phenotypes (Tramitichromis sp. [narrow-simple, well-ossified canals with small pores] and Aulonocara stuartgranti [widened, more weakly ossified canals with large pores]). This work showed that: 1) the patterning (number, distribution) of canal neuromasts, and the process of canal morphogenesis typical of bony fishes was the same in the two species, 2) two sub-populations of neuromasts (presumptive canal neuromasts and superficial neuromasts) are already distinguishable in small larvae and demonstrate distinctive ontogenetic trajectories in both species, 3) canal neuromasts differ with respect to ontogenetic trends in size and proportions between canals and between species, 4) the size, shape, configuration, physiological orientation, and overall rate of proliferation varies among the nine series of superficial neuromasts, which are found in both species, and 5) in Aulonocara, in particular, a consistent number of canal neuromasts accompanied by variability in the formation of canal pores during canal morphogenesis demonstrates independence of early and late phases of Lateral Line development. This work provides a new perspective on the contributions of post-embryonic phases of Lateral Line development and to the generation of distinct phenotypes in the Lateral Line System of bony fishes. J. Morphol., 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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feeding in the dark Lateral Line mediated prey detection in the peacock cichlid aulonocara stuartgranti
The Journal of Experimental Biology, 2012Co-Authors: Margot A B Schwalbe, Daniel K Bassett, Jacqueline F. WebbAbstract:SUMMARY The cranial Lateral Line canal System of teleost fishes is morphologically diverse and is characterized by four patterns. One of these, widened Lateral Line canals, has evolved convergently in a wide range of teleosts, including the Lake Malawi peacock cichlids ( Aulonocara ), and has been attributed to its role in prey detection. The ability to study Aulonocara in the laboratory provides an opportunity to test the hypothesis that their reported ability to feed on invertebrate prey living in sandy substrates in their natural habitat is the result of Lateral-Line-mediated prey detection. The goal of this study was to determine whether Aulonocara stuartgranti could detect hydrodynamic stimuli generated by tethered brine shrimp (visualized using digital particle image velocimetry) under light and dark conditions, with and without treatment with cobalt chloride, which is known to temporarily inactivate the Lateral Line System. Fish were presented with six pairs of tethered live and dead adult brine shrimp and feeding behavior was recorded with HD digital video. Results demonstrate that A. stuartgranti : (1) uses the same swimming/feeding strategy as they do in the field; (2) detects and consumes invertebrate prey in the dark using its Lateral Line System; (3) alters prey detection behavior when feeding on the same prey under light and dark conditions, suggesting the involvement of multiple sensory modalities; and (4) after treatment with cobalt chloride, exhibits a reduction in their ability to detect hydrodynamic stimuli produced by prey, especially in the dark, thus demonstrating the role of the Lateral Line System in prey detection.
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the laterophysic connection and swim bladder of butterflyfishes in the genus chaetodon perciformes chaetodontidae
Journal of Morphology, 2006Co-Authors: Jacqueline F. Webb, Darlene R. Ketten, Leo W SmithAbstract:The laterophysic connection (LC) is an association between biLaterally paired, anterior swim bladder extensions (horns) and medial openings in the supracleithral Lateral Line canals that diagnoses butterfly- fishes in the genus Chaetodon. It has been hypothesized that the LC makes the Lateral Line System sensitive to sound pressure stimuli that are transmitted by the swim bladder horns and converted to fluid flow into the Lateral Line System via a laterophysic tympanum. The purpose of this study was to define variation in the morphology of the LC, swim bladder and swim bladder horns among 41 Chaetodon species from all 11 Chaetodon subgenera and a species from each of four non-Chaetodon genera using gross dissection, histological analysis as well as 2D or 3D CT (computed tomographic) imaging of live, anesthetized fishes. Our results demonstrate that the Lateral Line sys- tem appears rather unspecialized with well-ossified nar- row canals in all species examined. Two LC types (direct and indirect), defined by whether or not the paired ante- rior swim bladder horns are in direct contact with a medial opening in the supracleithral Lateral Line canal, are found among species examined. Two variants on a direct LC and four variants of an indirect LC are defined by combinations of soft tissue anatomy (horn length (long/ short) and width (wide/narrow), number of swim bladder chambers (one/two), and presence/absence of mucoid con- nective tissue in the medial opening in the supracleith- rum). The combination of features defining each LC vari- ant is predicted to have functional consequences for the bioacoustics of the System. These findings are consistent with the recent discovery that Chaetodon produce sounds during social interactions. The data presented here pro- vide the comparative morphological context for the functional analysis of this novel swim bladder-Lateral Line connection. J. Morphol. 267:1338-1355, 2006. 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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The laterophysic connection and swim bladder of butterflyfishes in the genus Chaetodon (Perciformes: Chaetodontidae).
Journal of morphology, 2006Co-Authors: Jacqueline F. Webb, W. Leo Smith, Darlene R. KettenAbstract:The laterophysic connection (LC) is an association between biLaterally paired, anterior swim bladder extensions (horns) and medial openings in the supracleithral Lateral Line canals that diagnoses butterflyfishes in the genus Chaetodon. It has been hypothesized that the LC makes the Lateral Line System sensitive to sound pressure stimuli that are transmitted by the swim bladder horns and converted to fluid flow into the Lateral Line System via a laterophysic tympanum. The purpose of this study was to define variation in the morphology of the LC, swim bladder and swim bladder horns among 41 Chaetodon species from all 11 Chaetodon subgenera and a species from each of four non-Chaetodon genera using gross dissection, histological analysis as well as 2D or 3D CT (computed tomographic) imaging of live, anesthetized fishes. Our results demonstrate that the Lateral Line System appears rather unspecialized with well-ossified narrow canals in all species examined. Two LC types (direct and indirect), defined by whether or not the paired anterior swim bladder horns are in direct contact with a medial opening in the supracleithral Lateral Line canal, are found among species examined. Two variants on a direct LC and four variants of an indirect LC are defined by combinations of soft tissue anatomy (horn length [long/short] and width [wide/narrow], number of swim bladder chambers [one/two], and presence/absence of mucoid connective tissue in the medial opening in the supracleithrum). The combination of features defining each LC variant is predicted to have functional consequences for the bioacoustics of the System. These findings are consistent with the recent discovery that Chaetodon produce sounds during social interactions. The data presented here provide the comparative morphological context for the functional analysis of this novel swim bladder-Lateral Line connection.
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laterophysic connection a unique link between the swimbladder and the Lateral Line System in chaetodon perciformes chaetodontidae
Copeia, 1998Co-Authors: Jacqueline F. WebbAbstract:The auditory and Lateral Line Systems of teleost fishes are complementary in their ability to detect mechanical stimuli in water (Kalmijn, 1988, 1989; Coombs, 1994). The Lateral Line System is normally sensitive only to local incompressible flow fields arising from predators, prey, neighbors in a school, and environmental obstacles (reviewed by Montgomery et al., 1995). In contrast, the otolithic organs of the inner ear respond to whole-body accelerations generated by the same local flow fields to which the Lateral Line System responds. Enhanced sensitivity of the inner ear to propagated pressure waves ("sound") is a specialized function of the inner ear of teleost fishes (Kalmijn, 1989), which is the result of the presence of a volume of compressible fluid (i.e., the swimbladder) in the vicinity of the inner ear. Morphological specializations in which the swimbladder is brought into close or direct contact with the inner ear are generally known as "otophysic connections" and occur in some or all species in all four Lineages of teleost fishes (Osteoglossomorpha, Elopomorpha, Clupeomorpha, Euteleostei, reviewed by Schellart and Popper, 1992). It seems reasonable that the Lateral Line System could also be made pressure sensitive by placing an air cavity in the vicinity of, or in direct contact with, a Lateral Line canal. There are only two known examples of this type of sensory specialization: the recessus Lateralis of clupeomorph fishes; and the unique connection between the inner ear and the Lateral Line
Julie M Butler - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Cobalt Chloride Treatment Used to Ablate the Lateral Line System Also Impairs the Olfactory System in Three Freshwater Fishes
2016Co-Authors: Julie M Butler, Karen E. Field, Karen P. MaruskaAbstract:Fishes use multimodal signals during both inter- and intra-sexual displays to convey information about their sex, reproductive state, and social status. These complex behavioral displays can include visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and hydrodynamic signals, and the relative role of each sensory channel in these complex multi-sensory interactions is a common focus of neuroethology. The mechanosensory Lateral Line System of fishes detects near-body water movements and is implicated in a variety of behaviors including schooling, rheotaxis, social communication, and prey detection. Cobalt chloride is commonly used to chemically ablate Lateral Line neuromasts, thereby eliminating water-movement cues to test for mechanosensory-mediated behavioral functions. However, cobalt acts as a nonspecific calcium channel antagonist and could potentially disrupt function of all superficially located sensory receptor cells, including those for chemosensing. Here, we examined whether CoCl2 treatment used to ablate the Lateral Line System also impairs olfaction in three freshwater fishes, the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni, goldfish Carassius auratus, and the Mexican blind cavefish Astyanax mexicanus. To examine the impact of CoCl2 on the activity of peripheral receptors, we quantified DASPEI fluorescence intensity of the olfactory epithelium from fish exposed to control and CoCl2 solutions. In addition, we examined brain activation in olfactory processing regions of A. burtoni immersed in either control or cobalt solutions. All three species exposed to CoCl2 had decreased DASPEI staining of the olfactory epithelium, and in A. burtoni, cobalt treatment caused reduced neural activation in olfactory processing regions of the brain. To our knowledge this is the first empirical evidence demonstrating that the same CoCl2 treatment used to ablate the Lateral Line System also impairs olfactory function. These data have important implications for the use of CoCl2 in future research and suggest that previous studies using CoCl2 should be reinterpreted in the context of both impaired mechanoreception and olfaction.
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The mechanosensory Lateral Line System mediates activation of socially-relevant brain regions during territorial interactions
Frontiers Media S.A., 2016Co-Authors: Julie M Butler, Karen P. MaruskaAbstract:Animals use multiple senses during social interactions and must integrate this information in the brain to make context-dependent behavioral decisions. For fishes, the largest group of vertebrates, the mechanosensory Lateral Line System provides crucial hydrodynamic information for survival behaviors, but little is known about its function in social communication. Our previous work using the African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni, provided the first empirical evidence that fish use their Lateral Line System to detect water movements from conspecifics for mutual assessment and behavioral choices. It is unknown, however, where this socially-relevant mechanosensory information is processed in the brain to elicit adaptive behavioral responses. To examine for the first time in any fish species which brain regions receive contextual mechanosensory information, we quantified expression of the immediate early gene cfos as a proxy for neural activation in sensory and socially-relevant brain nuclei from Lateral Line-intact and -ablated fish following territorial interactions. Our in situ hybridization results indicate that in addition to known Lateral Line processing regions, socially-relevant mechanosensory information is processed in the ATn (ventromedial hypothalamus homolog), Dl (putative hippocampus homolog), and Vs (putative medial extended amygdala homolog). In addition, we identified a functional network within the conserved social decision-making network whose co-activity corresponds with mutual assessment and behavioral choice. Lateral Line-intact and –ablated fight winners had different patterns of co-activity of these function networks and group identity could be determined solely by activation patterns, indicating the importance of mechanoreception to co-activity of the social decision-making network. These data show for the first time that the mechanosensory Lateral Line System provides relevant information to conserved decision-making centers of the brain during territorial interactions to mediate crucial behavioral choices such as whether or not to engage in a territorial fight. To our knowledge, this is also the first evidence of a subpallial nucleus receiving mechanosensory input, providing important information for elucidating homologies of decision-making circuits across vertebrates. These novel results highlight the importance of considering multimodal sensory input in mediating context-appropriate behaviors that will provide broad insights on the evolution of decision-making networks across all taxa
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The mechanosensory Lateral Line is used to assess opponents and mediate aggressive behaviors during territorial interactions in an African cichlid fish.
Journal of Experimental Biology, 2015Co-Authors: Julie M Butler, Karen P. MaruskaAbstract:Fish must integrate information from multiple sensory Systems to mediate adaptive behaviors. Visual, acoustic and chemosensory cues provide contextual information during social interactions, but the role of mechanosensory signals detected by the Lateral Line System during aggressive behaviors is unknown. The aim of this study was first to characterize the Lateral Line System of the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni and second to determine the role of mechanoreception during agonistic interactions. The A. burtoni Lateral Line System is similar to that of many other cichlid fishes, containing Lines of superficial neuromasts on the head, trunk and caudal fin, and narrow canals. Astatotilapia burtoni males defend their territories from other males using aggressive behaviors that we classified as non-contact or contact. By chemically and physically ablating the Lateral Line System prior to forced territorial interactions, we showed that the Lateral Line System is necessary for mutual assessment of opponents and the use of non-contact fight behaviors. Our data suggest that the Lateral Line System facilitates the use of non-contact assessment and fight behaviors as a protective mechanism against physical damage. In addition to a role in prey detection, the diversity of Lateral Line morphology in cichlids may have also enabled the expansion of their social behavioral repertoire. To our knowledge, this is the first study to implicate the Lateral Line System as a mode of social communication necessary for assessment during agonistic interactions.
