Dataset Information

Collective Sensing in Electric Fish.

ABSTRACT: A number of organisms, including dolphins, bats, and electric fish, possess sophisticated active sensory systems that use self-generated signals (e.g. acoustic or electrical emissions) to probe the environment ^1,2 . Studies of active sensing in social groups have typically focused on strategies for minimizing interference from conspecific emissions ^2-4 . However, it is well-known from engineering that multiple spatially distributed emitters and receivers can greatly enhance environmental sensing (e.g. multistatic radar and sonar) ^5-8 . Here we provide evidence from modeling, neural recordings, and behavioral experiments that the African weakly electric fish Gnathonemus petersii utilizes the electrical pulses of conspecifics to extend electrolocation range, discriminate objects, and increase information transmission. These results suggest a novel, collective mode of active sensing in which individual perception is enhanced by the energy emissions of nearby group members.

SUBMITTER: Pedraja F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10515903 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Collective Sensing in Electric Fish.

Pedraja Federico F Sawtell Nathaniel B NB

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 20230913

A number of organisms, including dolphins, bats, and electric fish, possess sophisticated active sensory systems that use self-generated signals (e.g. acoustic or electrical emissions) to probe the environment<sup>1,2</sup>. Studies of active sensing in social groups have typically focused on strategies for minimizing interference from conspecific emissions<sup>2-4</sup>. However, it is well-known from engineering that multiple spatially distributed emitters and receivers can greatly enhance env ...[more]

PMID: 37745367

Similar Datasets

Project description:Electric fishes have independently evolved six times. Most of these fish are weakly electric and they use their discharge mainly for orientation and communication. In the African weakly electric fish genus Campylomormyrus, electric organ discharge (EOD) signals are strikingly different in shape and duration among closely related species, they contribute to pre-zygotic isolation and may have triggered an adaptive radiation. We performed mRNA sequencing on electric organs (EOs) and skeletal muscle (SMs; from which the EOs derive) from three species with short (0.4 ms), medium (5 ms), and long (40 ms) EODs and two different cross-species hybrids. Using pairwise comparison of differential gene expression between EOs and SMs, we identified 1,444 up regulated genes in EO shared by all five species/hybrids cohorts, rendering them candidate genes for EO-specific properties in Campylomormyrus. To understand how gene expression contributes to the variation in EOD duration, we made cross species comparisons among species and tissue. We identified three types of EOD-duration-related expression patterns and several candidate genes, including KCNJ2, KLF5 and SLC24a2, their upregulation may contribute to increased EOD duration, along with a down-regulated gene KCNK6. Hybrids between a short (C. compressirostris) and a long (C. rhynchophorus) discharging species exhibit EODs of intermediate duration and showed imbalanced expression of KCNJ2 alleles. The preferential expression of the C. rhynchophorus allele is in line with a higher expression level in that parental species and points towards a cis-regulatory difference at this locus, relative to EOD duration. A further candidate gene, KLF5, is a transcription factor potentially balancing potassium channel gene expression, a crucial process for the formation of an EOD. Unraveling the genetic basis of the species-specific modulation of the EOD in Campylomormyrus is crucial for understanding the adaptive radiation of this emerging model taxon of ecological (perhaps even sympatric) speciation.

Dataset Information

Collective Sensing in Electric Fish.

Publications

Collective Sensing in Electric Fish.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets