Pulses of electrical energy give some fish the flexibility to determine objects or prey, and a little bit shimmy helps them take a number of snapshots that give their underwater world depth
Life
12 December 2022
Peters’s elephant nostril fish produce electrical fields that assist them navigate the world blickwinkel / Alamy Stock Photo
Elephant-nose fish must twist, tempo and shimmy to precisely “see” the shapes of objects when decoding wobbles in electrical fields.
Peters’s elephant-nose fish (Gnathonemus petersii) is native to the rivers of west and central Africa. It and its shut relations are “weakly electric” fish that may produce a small electrical discharge too feeble to stun prey. But sensors of their pores and skin can use the ensuing electrical discipline round their our bodies to detect prey and underwater obstacles. …