Fish acquire information about their aquatic environment by means of their mechanosensory lateral-line system. This system consists of superficial and canal neuromasts that sense perturbations in the water surrounding them. Based on a hydrodynamic model presented here, we propose a mechanism through which fish can localize the source of these perturbations. In doing so we include the curvature of the fish body, a realistic lateral line canal inter-pore distance for the lateral-line canals, and the surface boundary layer. Using our model to explore receptor behavior based on experimental data of responses to dipole stimuli we suggest that superficial and canal neuromasts employ the same mechanism, hence provide the same type of input to the central nervous system. The analytical predictions agree well with spiking responses recorded experimentally from primary lateral-line nerve fibers. From this, and taking into account the central organization of the lateral-line system, we present a simple biophysical model for determining the distance to a source.

In internally coupled ears, displacement of one eardrum creates pressure waves that propagate through air-filled passages in the skull and cause displacement of the opposing eardrum, and conversely. By modeling the membrane, passages, and propagating pressure waves, we show that internally coupled ears generate unique amplitude and temporal cues for sound localization. The magnitudes of both these cues are directionally dependent. The tympanic fundamental frequency segregates a low-frequency regime with constant time-difference magnification from a high-frequency domain with considerable amplitude magnification.

Weakly electric fish use electroreception for both active and passive electrolocation and for electrocommunication. While both active and passive electrolocation systems are prominent in weakly electric Mormyriform fishes, knowledge of their passive electrolocation ability is still scarce. To better estimate the contribution of passive electric sensing to the orientation toward electric stimuli in weakly electric fishes, we investigated frequency tuning applying classical input-output characterization and stimulus reconstruction methods to reveal the encoding capabilities of ampullary receptor afferents. Ampullary receptor afferents were most sensitive (threshold: 40 μV/cm) at low frequencies (<10 Hz) and appear to be tuned to a mix of amplitude and slope of the input signals. The low-frequency tuning was corroborated by behavioral experiments, but behavioral thresholds were one order of magnitude higher. The integration of simultaneously recorded afferents of similar frequency-tuning resulted in strongly enhanced signal-to-noise ratios and increased mutual information rates but did not increase the range of frequencies detectable by the system. Theoretically the neuronal integration of input from receptors experiencing opposite polarities of a stimulus (left and right side of the fish) was shown to enhance encoding of such stimuli, including an increase of bandwidth. Covariance and coherence analysis showed that spiking of ampullary afferents is sufficiently explained by the spike-triggered average, i.e., receptors respond to a single linear feature of the stimulus. Our data support the notion of a division of labor of the active and passive electrosensory systems in weakly electric fishes based on frequency tuning. Future experiments will address the role of central convergence of ampullary input that we expect to lead to higher sensitivity and encoding power of the system.