Antarctic fish reside in an environment which is characterised by low levels of light. They are therefore unable to specialiseon using a single sensory system and as a consequence, are likely to place a greater reliance on non-visual sensory systems. The mechanosensory lateral line is one such non-visual sensory sense that has shown to be important in Antarctic fish. The lateral line is a specialised sense that enables fish to detect hydrodynamic stimuli. It is composed of two receptor classes; superficial neuromasts, which are located on the surface of the skin, and canal neuromasts, which are located in sub-epidermal fluid-filled canals. This study was undertaken in an attempt to classify the response properties of lateral line receptors to water flow in Trematomus pennellii.

Publications

Carton, A.G. Montgomery, J.C. Responses of lateral line receptors to water flow in the Antarctic notothenioid, Trematomus bernacchii. Polar Biology 25: 789-793, 2002.

Carton, A.G. Responses of anterior lateral line afferent neurones to water flow and odour-conditioned rheotaxis in Anguilla spp. PhD, University of Auckland, 2001.

Montgomery, J.C. Baker, C.F. Carton, A.G. The lateral line can mediate rheotaxis in fish. Nature 389: 960-963, 1997.