Abstract
It was shown for the first time that the perception of the blind Mexican cavefish Astyanax fasciatus of the odour of food and targeted food search in response to it is completely controlled by olfaction. Blockage of olfactory reception deprives the fish of this ability. The odour concentration threshold (water extract of chironomid larvae) is 10–5 g/L. It is suggested that degeneration of visual organs does not intensify olfaction in troglobiont cavefish, but can cause its insignificant correction. Chronic anosmia (4 months) leads to weak recovery of chemoorientation, which supports the possession of external taste reception in blind cavefish.
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Original Russian Text © A.O. Kasumyan, E.A. Marusov, 2015, published in Ekologiya, 2015, No. 6, pp. 439–443.
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Kasumyan, A.O., Marusov, E.A. Chemoorientation in the feeding behavior of the blind Mexican cavefish Astyanax fasciatus (Characidae, Teleostei). Russ J Ecol 46, 559–563 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1067413615060053
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1067413615060053