Electrocommunication in Teleost Fishes: Behavior and Experiments

by Bernd Kramer

Overview

Some fishes test their environment by generating electric fields outside their bodies (man's first contact with electricity). To send and receive electric signals, one's own or those from a neighbor, is the basis of some bony fishes' unusual sensory capacities that enable them to lead a secret, nocturnal life. This volume provides the reader with a detailed account of these fishes' biology and behavior and their sophisticated sensory capacities. The phylogenetic relationships of the fish taxa involved are discussed as well as the physiology and anatomy of the electrosensory-motor-system and the integration to form an efficient intelligence system. The main emphasis is on the descriptive and experimental analysis of electric communication behavior in a variety of species, including studies of digital signal synthesis. Whenever possible, mechanisms of communication are indicated.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783642840289
Publisher:	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publication date:	12/08/2011
Series:	Zoophysiology , #29
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1990
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

1. Taxonomy of Electroreceptive Teleosts.- 1.1 Osteoglossiformes.- 1.2 Mormyriformes.- 1.3 Gymnotiformes.- 1.4 Siluriformes.- 2. Electric Sensori-Motor System.- 2.1 Electroreception in Evolutionary Perspective.- 2.2 Electric Organs.- 2.3 The Electric System in the Aquatic Environment.- 3. Species Diversity of Electric Organ Discharge Activity.- 3.1 Waveforms of Electric Organ Discharges.- 3.2 Patterns of Spontaneous Discharge Rates.- 3.3 Responses to Disturbances (or Food Stimuli).- 4. Communicating with Electric Organ Discharges.- 4.1 Electrical and Motor Displays of Communicating Fish.- 4.2 Experimental Manipulation of the Electrocommunication System.- Conclusion.- References.- Systematic Index.