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Stimulus filtering and electroreception: Tuberous electroreceptors in three species of Gymnotoid fish

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Summary

Electroreceptive neurons in the posterior branch of the anterior lateral line nerve of three species of electric fish (Gymnotoidei):Sternopygus macrums, Eigenmannia virescens, andApteronotus albifrons, show speciesspecific differences in the filtering of electrical stimuli. All of the tuberous electroreceptor fibers of an individual are tuned to the same frequency: that of the electric organ discharge (EOD) of the species, more specifically, to that of the individual. The fibers inSternopygus are tuned to 50–150 Hz; those inEigenmannia to 250–500 Hz, and those inApteronotus to 800–1,200 Hz (Figs. 3, 5, 8). Two classes of organs inSternopygus andEigenmannia, P and T units, respond to sinusoidal stimuli at the unit's best frequency (BF) with a phase-locked partially-adapting (P), or tonic (sustained) (T) discharge. T-units are more sharply tuned and are more sensitive than P-units. Only one class of organs,P or partially adapting units, have been found inApteronotus and phase-locking is less evident than it is in other species.

Nerve section proximal to the recording site does not alter the tuning curves inSternopygus (Fig. 18), but local warming and cooling of the cutaneous receptor site in bothSternopygus andEigenmannia shifts the tuning curve to higher and lower frequencies, respectively (Fig. 17).

Species-specific differences in peripheral electroreceptor tuning are thought to play an important role in the functioning of electric communication and electro-location among gymnotoid fish.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Neurobiology Unit and Department of Neurosciences, School of Medicine, University of California, 92037, San Diego, La Jolla, California

    Carl D. Hopkins

  2. Department of Ecology and Behavioral Biology, University of Minnesota, 55455, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Carl D. Hopkins

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It is a great pleasure to thank Professor Theodore H. Bullock for his generous support, encouragement, and guidance during the course of this project. T. Uter, W. F. Heiligenberg, and J. Bastian helped in many ways during the research, and T.H. Bullock, T. Viancour, K. Behrend, M. Konishi and C. Gobar kindly helped improve the manuscript. Financial assistance was provided by The National Science Foundation and the National Institute for Neurological Disease and Stroke.

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Hopkins, C.D. Stimulus filtering and electroreception: Tuberous electroreceptors in three species of Gymnotoid fish. J. Comp. Physiol. 111, 171–207 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00605531

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