Mormyrid fish as models for investigating sensory‐motor integration: A behavioural perspective

Abstract

Animals possess senses which gather information from their environment. They can tune into important aspects of this information and decide on the most appropriate response, requiring coordination of their sensory and motor systems. This interaction is bidirectional. Animals can actively shape their perception with selfdriven motion, altering sensory flow to maximise the environmental information they are able to extract. Mormyrid fish are excellent candidates for studying sensory-motor interactions, because they possess a unique sensory system (the active electric sense) and exhibit notable behaviours that seem to be associated with electrosensing. This review will take a behavioural approach to unpicking this relationship, using active electrolocation as an example where body movements and sensing capabilities are highly related and can be assessed in tandem. Active electrolocation is the process where individuals will generate and detect lowvoltage electric fields to locate and recognise nearby objects. We will focus on research in the mormyrid Gnathonemus petersii (G. petersii), given the extensive study of this species, particularly its object recognition abilities. By studying object detection and recognition, we can assess the potential benefits of self-driven movements to enhance selection of biologically relevant information. Finally, these findings are highly relevant to understanding the involvement of movement in shaping the sensory experience of animals that use other sensory modalities. Understanding the overlap between sensory and motor systems will give insight into how different species have become adapted to their environments.

A review of the reproductive biology of mormyroid fishes: An emerging model for biomedical research

“…Given that mormyroid fishes have evolved the ability to exploit a sensory modality unavailable to most other fishes, they are first and foremost an exciting system to ask questions about the evolution of sensory systems and how sensory information is integrated across sensory modalities (e.g., Skeels et al, 2023). An important key to understanding the sensory lives of mormyroid electric fishes is the fact that mormyroid brains are strikingly large (Figure 1a) in proportion to their body size, comparable to the brain‐body proportion of humans (Kaufman et al, 2003).…”

Adaptive shift of active electroreception in weakly electric fish for troglobitic life

“…Most species of weakly electric fishes are nocturnal, and many live in turbid waters. While in the absence of visual cues, weakly electric fishes use electrosensory feedback from self-generated electric fields in social communication, navigation, predator avoidance, and prey capture (Heiligenberg, 1991;Caputi and Budelli, 2006;Skeels et al, 2023). Such active electrosensory systems are considered to be adaptations for nocturnal lifestyles, and thus may be an exaptation for troglobitic habitats.…”