By the Teeth of Their Skin, Cavefish Find Their Way

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event By the Teeth of Their Skin, Cavefish Find Their Way Gal Haspel1*, Adina Schwartz2, Amy Streets2, Daniel E. Camacho3 and Daphne Soares2 1 National Institute of Neural Disorder and Stroke, United States 2 University of Maryland, Biology department, United States 3 Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Ecuador We describe a mechanosensory system in which skin-teeth are used as sensory organs. Mechanosensation is a vital sensory modality for fishes. These animals usually create hydrodynamic images of their environments through specialized skin organs called neuromasts. The Ecuadorian cavefish, Astroblepus pholeter, lives in a fast current cave and shows relatively few neuromasts but a hypertrophy of skin denticles along the dorsal surface of its head and trunk. Here we show that A. pholeter uses its skin denticles for mechanosensation in the perpetually dark cave. We examine the anatomy, physiology and behaviour related to the mechanosensory role of skin denticles and demonstrate that this sensory system may present a case of adaptation that highlights an ancestral sensory organ. Figure 1 Figure 2 Keywords: Astroblepus pholeter, cavefish, denticles, mechanosensory, odontodes, skin-teeth Conference: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology, College Park. Maryland USA, United States, 5 Aug - 10 Aug, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation (see alternatives below as well) Topic: Sensory: Mechanosensation Citation: Haspel G, Schwartz A, Streets A, Camacho DE and Soares D (2012). By the Teeth of Their Skin, Cavefish Find Their Way. Conference Abstract: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnbeh.2012.27.00312 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 30 Apr 2012; Published Online: 07 Jul 2012. * Correspondence: Dr. Gal Haspel, National Institute of Neural Disorder and Stroke, Bethesda, MD, 20892, United States, haspel@njit.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Gal Haspel Adina Schwartz Amy Streets Daniel E Camacho Daphne Soares Google Gal Haspel Adina Schwartz Amy Streets Daniel E Camacho Daphne Soares Google Scholar Gal Haspel Adina Schwartz Amy Streets Daniel E Camacho Daphne Soares PubMed Gal Haspel Adina Schwartz Amy Streets Daniel E Camacho Daphne Soares Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.