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The behavioural role of pit organs in the epaulette shark
Author(s) -
Peach M. B.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1046/j.1095-8649.2003.00065.x
Subject(s) - biology , zoology , anatomy , ecology , fishery
Epaulette sharks Hemiscyllium ocellatum in three treatments, pit organs (free neuromasts) ablated, sham‐operated and normal ( n = 8 for each treatment), showed a significant preference for facing upstream in a flume ( P < 0·05). There were no significant differences in the mean angles or angular variances among treatments. Individuals with ablated pit organs, however, spent significantly less time moving around than controls ( P < 0·05), suggesting that pit organs contributed to motivation for activity. Pit organs do not appear to make an important contribution to rheotaxis in H. ocellatum . It is suggested that this may be due to structural differences in the pit organs of H. ocellatum compared with other species.