Summary
It was noticed that the blind Mexican Cave Fish repeatedly passes along objects new to it at a short distance. Observations and experiments are reported which support the hypothesis that water movements occurring between the stationary object and the fish as it passes by convey information about the location and possibly the shape of the object, which is detected by the lateral line organ of the fish. Water movements of the expected type were recorded with the help of a model fish equipped with a mechano-electric analogue of a free neuromast.
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This research was supported by DFG Grant Ca 34/4
The technical devices were developed together with the master precision-instrument makers Mr. F. Hofmann and Mr. K. Wahnsiedler. The English of the paper was corrected and improved by Neil Beckhaus.
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von Campenhausen, C., Riess, I. & Weissert, R. Detection of stationary objects by the blind Cave FishAnoptichthys jordani (Characidae). J. Comp. Physiol. 143, 369–374 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00611175
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00611175