Summary
In Raja ocellata the macula neglecta is located in the posterior canal duct of the inner ear at the junction with the sacculus. The maximum length and width of a freeze-dried macula from a male skate of 61 cm width is 1035 μm and 315 μm respectively. Ultrastructural studies show that the hair cells of the macula are of two types. Orientation of hair cells is towards the periphery with a reverse direction of polarization in 5.0 to 6.5% of the cells. The axons of the associated nerve, the ramus neglectus, are myelinated, and include both efferent and afferent fibres.
Electron-microscopic studies and quantitative analyses reveal significant sex differences in the macula neglecta and ramus neglectus. Hair cell and axon numbers, and total axon areas increase linearly with skate size, and are significantly different in males and females for any given representative size of skate, the females having the larger counts. Since the macula neglecta functions as a vibration detector of far-field localizations, the gender difference may be involved in the location of prey, or in mate detection. It is unknown whether such differences occur in any other vertebrate species.
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Barber, V.C., Yake, K.I., Clark, V.F. et al. Quantitative analyses of sex and size differences in the macula neglecta and ramus neglectus in the inner ear of the skate, Raja ocellata . Cell Tissue Res. 241, 597–605 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00214581
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00214581