• Beginning with my undergraduate studies, I have focused my research efforts on understanding these sorts of 'exotic' model systems, including studying active touch in manatees, echolocation in bats, and electroreception in weakly electric fish. (jhu.edu)
  • Effects of restraint and immobilization on the electrical behaviors of weakly electric fish. (jhu.edu)
  • Dec. 5, 2023 Researchers have discovered that electric eels can alter the genes of tiny fish larvae with their electric shock. (sciencedaily.com)
  • Dec. 5, 2023 Researchers report that mice display behavior that resembles self-recognition when they see themselves in the mirror. (sciencedaily.com)
  • By stimulation of brain structures in the protocerebrum, he succeeded in eliciting and inhibiting complex behaviors, including calling, courtship, and aggressive songs, and associated motor patterns. (scholarpedia.org)
  • Male crickets ( Gryllus bimaculatus ), as well as most other male insects, exhibit intensive aggressive behavior when they encounter another male, whereas they show courtship behavior to a conspecific female ( Alexander, 1961 ). (biologists.com)
  • We present a description of the electrogenic system and the reproductive behavior of Gymnotiform electrical fishes focusing on sexual and seasonal variations of their electric displays, and the communicative value of their social electric signals produced during courtship, using histological techniques and electrophysiological recordings. (bvsalud.org)
  • During mating, Gymnotiform fishes show electric discharge sexual dimorphism, and generate transient social signals during courtship and gametoposition. (bvsalud.org)
  • The electric eels are a genus, Electrophorus, of neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae. (wikipedia.org)
  • Evolution of electric communication channels of mormyrids. (mnhn.fr)
  • Mormyrids communicate using pulse-type electric organ discharges (EODs) that are highly stereotyped and species-specific ( Hopkins, 1981 ). (elifesciences.org)
  • The electric sense of mormyrids is often regarded as an adaptation to conditions unfavourable for vision and in these fish it has become the dominant sense for active orientation and communication tasks. (uni-bielefeld.de)
  • Electric fish are called mormyrids. (livescience.com)
  • Here, we investigated the role of sensory input from the antennae in male defensive aggressive behavior. (biologists.com)
  • We further found that antennectomized crickets do not utilize visual or palpal sensory input to elicit aggressive behavior. (biologists.com)
  • It thus appears that antennal sensory information is crucial in the mediation of aggressive and avoidance behaviors. (biologists.com)
  • However, sensory inputs from the antennae are not necessary to elicit defensive aggressive behavior but are necessary to discriminate conspecific males and initiate attacks against them. (biologists.com)
  • With this sense, fish can detect and distinguish the electrical properties of the close environment, measure distance, perceive the 3-D shape of objects and discriminate objects according to distance or size and shape, irrespective of conductivity, thus showing a degree of abstraction regarding the interpretation of sensory stimuli. (uni-bielefeld.de)
  • While electric images are by nature distributed, or 'blurred', behavioural strategies orienting sensory surfaces and the neural architecture of sensory processing networks both contribute to resolving potential ambiguities. (uni-bielefeld.de)
  • A hidden world of sensory signals and behavior lies beyond human perceptual capabilities. (jhu.edu)
  • This local metabolism within the brain is important for the full expression of male sexual behavior in many species, including green anole lizards. (karger.com)
  • They are known to engage in sexual behavior like kissing (nipping) and flirting (shaking tails and fins). (acaquarium.com)
  • Male crickets ( Gryllus bimaculatus ) exhibit intensively defensive aggressive behavior towards attacking males most often culminating in fighting. (biologists.com)
  • In contrast, intact males showed aspects of aggressive behavior to male cuticular substances before and after winning a fight, and if they lost a fight they showed avoidance behavior. (biologists.com)
  • Further, they find that both the neuropeptide oxytocin and its neurons are capable of driving defensive swimming behavior, by activating a network of brainstem premotor targets. (harvard.edu)
  • Both the induced behaviors as well as recruited brainstem circuits partially overlap with, but are also distinct from classical predator-escape pathways in zebrafish. (harvard.edu)
  • Clearly, even the simple fish brain has evolved strategies to cope with painful stimuli - in the case of these zebrafish, their actions appear to be literally controlled by a hardwired brain circuit that determines what they should do for their own survival. (harvard.edu)
  • Discover the importance of zebrafish as a model organism in behavior research. (noldus.com)
  • Learn how studies on zebrafish can reveal valuable insights into genetic disorders, learning and memory, developmental biology and even social behavior. (noldus.com)
  • Temperament and behavior seem comparable to the Yellowtail Damselfish. (liveaquaria.com)
  • Despite their name, electric eels are not closely related to the true eels (Anguilliformes) but are members of the electroreceptive knifefish order, Gymnotiformes. (wikipedia.org)
  • Electric eels form a clade of strongly electric fishes within the order Gymnotiformes, the South American knifefishes. (wikipedia.org)
  • Electric Blue Acaras are omnivores but primarily eat a high-protein diet in the wild, digging in the earth for worms and insects. (fishinformer.com)
  • Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). (mnhn.fr)
  • Fish registrations within the museum database of the Vertebrate Section of the Royal Museum for Central Africa. (mnhn.fr)
  • Fishes of the Salonga National Park (Congo basin, central Africa): a list of species collected in the Luilaka, Salonga, and Yenge Rivers (Equateur Province, Democratic Republic of Congo). (mnhn.fr)
  • The fresh and brackish water fishes of Lower Guinea, West-Central Africa. (mnhn.fr)
  • The causative sub-Saharan Africa, where it is now more common than organism, Mycobacterium ulcerans , is acquired from the en- tuberculosis and leprosy in some regions ( 7 ). (cdc.gov)
  • But in this lake along the banks of the Iriri River in Brazil's state of Pará, the researchers witnessed the eels working together to herd small fish called tetras into tightly packed balls. (eurekalert.org)
  • Underwater photos of Volta's electric eel (Electrophorus voltai), the species of electric eel recently discovered by researchers to hunt in groups. (phys.org)
  • BEACON Researchers at Work: Are Electric Fish Magic? (beacon-center.org)
  • Researchers believe that these different electrical signals are the fishes' first step in diverging into separate species. (livescience.com)
  • The fish are likely on the verge of splitting into two species, the researchers announced today. (livescience.com)
  • They live in the murky streams and ponds of the Amazon and Orinoco basins of South America, feeding mainly on fish, but also amphibians and even birds and small mammals. (nationalgeographic.com)
  • They are responsible for MET in hair cells of the lateral line organ, an organ specific to fish and amphibians. (viewpoint.fr)
  • Hair cells, found in the inner ear and the lateral line organ, which is an organ specific to fish and amphibians, were also normal. (viewpoint.fr)
  • Because electricity is easily transmitted in water, many species of amphibians and fish have adapted to detect weak electric signals. (livescience.com)
  • For example, to explore the involvement of certain, anatomically defined brain areas in the control of specific behaviors it was reasonable to stimulate neurons of these areas electrically via electrodes implanted in the brain of awake, freely moving animals. (scholarpedia.org)
  • The costs of a big brain: extreme encephalization results in higher energetic demand and reduced hypoxia tolerance in weakly African fishes. (mnhn.fr)
  • Upon their opening, the channels pass current and generate an electrical output to the brain, which is then interpreted as sounds, gravity or acceleration. (viewpoint.fr)
  • Electric communication signals are detected by electroreceptors called knollenorgans. (elifesciences.org)
  • But still the eel uses the electrical signals to see. (animalfunfacts.net)
  • It regularly sends out electrical signals of about 10 volts to generate an electrical field. (animalfunfacts.net)
  • Although these fish look alike and have the same DNA genetic makeup, they have very different electrical signals and will only mate with fish that produce the same signals. (livescience.com)
  • Electric fish emit weak signals from an organ in their tails that serves as a battery. (livescience.com)
  • While the fish can apparently understand each others' warning signals, "They seem to only choose to mate with other fish having the same signature waveform as their own," explains neurobiologist Matt Arnegard of Cornell University. (livescience.com)
  • But in the Ivindo River in Gabon, Arnegard and colleagues have found fish with the same DNA emitting distinctly different signals. (livescience.com)
  • Others emit and detect electrical signals primarily as a means to communicate with their own kind. (livescience.com)
  • Arnegard cautioned that it is possible the differing electrical signals might be like varying eye color and possibly won't result in speciation. (livescience.com)
  • Damsels are most noted for their electric blue coloration but other varieties are equally appealing. (petplace.com)
  • The name 'Electric yellow cichlid' comes from the bright, electrifying coloration of the fish and has nothing to do with electrical properties. (acaquarium.com)
  • One of the new species of electric eel presented in his 2019 paper , Volta's electric eel (Electrophorus voltai), is capable of producing 860-volt electric shocks--the strongest electric discharge of any animal on Earth and 210 volts higher than the previous record. (eurekalert.org)
  • As a result, there is a diminished interest for the basic processes of aversive control and their interaction with other behavioral phenomena (e.g., stimulus control and verbal behavior). (abainternational.org)
  • Electric eels leaping from the water deliver a more powerful shock to an animal they perceive to be a threat than when they're underwater, according to research. (nationalgeographic.com)
  • Often, they study the behavior of an animal in its natural habitat, avoiding disturbance by the experimenter as much as possible. (scholarpedia.org)
  • Electrical coupling, via gap junctions, is critical for the development of CPGs, as well as for their actual operation in the adult animal. (degruyter.com)
  • My approach involves the quantitative analysis of animal behavior in experimental paradigms designed to complement physiological recordings that reveal the underlying neural mechanisms. (jhu.edu)
  • This is the strongest electrical discharge an animal on this earth is capable of and it makes the electric eel the most "electric" fish in the world. (animalfunfacts.net)
  • Is the Electric Eel a Loner or a Group Animal? (animalfunfacts.net)
  • When we think of the neurons that control pain-induced behavior, what usually comes to mind are the simple peripheral and spinal reflex circuits described in medical textbooks. (harvard.edu)
  • These hypothalamic neurons express oxytocin, commonly portrayed as the 'love' hormone for its known role in social behaviors. (harvard.edu)
  • 1987. The influence of skeletal muscle on the electrical excitability of dorsal root ganglion neurons in culture. (cdc.gov)
  • He noted that the fish is from the rivers of Surinam, that it causes painful shocks, and that it had small pits around the head. (wikipedia.org)
  • Most knifefishes are weakly electric, capable of active electrolocation but not of delivering shocks. (wikipedia.org)
  • The special characteristic of electric eels is that they can generate electric shocks and in this way stun prey. (animalfunfacts.net)
  • The electric eel is able to produce electric shocks up to 600 volts and therefore is the most "electrical" fish in the world. (animalfunfacts.net)
  • His pioneering expeditions into the murky, remote waters of the Amazon and its many tributaries have brought to light 85 new species of electric fishes. (eurekalert.org)
  • Of course, electric eels do not need electricity to light up the murky waters with a light bulb. (animalfunfacts.net)
  • In 2019, electric eels were split into three species: for more than two centuries before that, the genus was believed to be monotypic, containing only Electrophorus electricus. (wikipedia.org)
  • In 1864, Theodore Gill moved the electric eel to its own genus, Electrophorus. (wikipedia.org)
  • But the electric eel Electrophorus voltai can generate up to 860 volts. (animalfunfacts.net)
  • Electric eels can generate an electrical charge of up to 600 volts in order to stun prey and keep predators at bay. (nationalgeographic.com)
  • These famous freshwater predators get their name from the enormous electrical charge they can generate to stun prey and dissuade predators. (nationalgeographic.com)
  • Yet, the electric eel can be rather persistent: It can generate up to 150 current impulses per hour. (animalfunfacts.net)
  • How Do Electric Eels Generate Voltage? (animalfunfacts.net)
  • If the electrical eel wants to generate a voltage, all 6,000 electrical cells are activated one after the other. (animalfunfacts.net)
  • You need an electrical potential difference to generate an electric current. (animalfunfacts.net)
  • Others, like the electric eel, generate deadly voltages for defense or to kill prey. (livescience.com)
  • From the electric eel to the echidna, many animals rely on electric currents to communicate, find prey, and defend themselves. (nationalgeographic.com)
  • Those smaller groups then surrounded the prey ball and launched simultaneous electric attacks, stunning the tetras into submission. (eurekalert.org)
  • Sharks and rays can detect the electrical patterns created by nerve conduction, muscular contraction, and even the ionic difference between a body (i.e. of prey) and water. (eol.org)
  • Other experiments have demonstrated that cartilaginous fishes use electrosensory information not only to locate prey, but also for orientation and navigation based on the electrical fields created by the interaction between water currents and the earth's magnetic field. (eol.org)
  • Although some rays can produce an electric shock to defend themselves or stun prey, members of the family Dasyatidae cannot. (eol.org)
  • The species forms groups of up to ten animals and hunt together for small prey fish. (animalfunfacts.net)
  • Electric imaging through active electrolocation: implication for the analysis of complex scenes", Biol Cybern , vol. 98, 2008, pp. 519-539. (uni-bielefeld.de)
  • A team of scientists describe this novel behavior in the Jan. 14 issue of the journal Ecology and Evolution. (eurekalert.org)
  • De Santana is the senior author of a new paper describing this novel behavior in the Jan. 14 issue of the journal Ecology and Evolution . (eurekalert.org)
  • An animated video abstract describing newly discovered group-hunting behavior found in electric eels.A team of scientists describe this novel behavior in the Jan. 14 issue of the journal Ecology and Evolution . (phys.org)
  • The pacemaker nucleus organizes the discharge sequence whereas the rest of the system determines the electric organ discharge waveform, which is species specific. (bvsalud.org)
  • The conversion of a mechanical stimulus into an electrical signal is known as mechano-electrical transduction (MET). (viewpoint.fr)
  • In addition, we describe nine distinct behaviors associated with this ability, including a form of non-undulatory locomotion also seen in snakes and lampreys. (silverchair.com)
  • The purpose of the present study was to explore and describe the ability of two species of hagfish to squeeze through tight spaces, and to test possible mechanisms by which this behavior is accomplished. (silverchair.com)
  • A great variety of species live in water too deep to fish feasibly without electric assist on demand. (sportfishingmag.com)
  • Deep in the Brazilian Amazon River basin, scientists led by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History fish research associate C. David de Santana discovered a small, river-fed lake filled with more than 100 adult electric eels, many of which were upwards of 4 feet long. (eurekalert.org)
  • The freshly described Volta's electric eel, which can reach lengths of 8 feet, is also the species behind the social hunting strategy at the center of de Santana's new research. (eurekalert.org)
  • The Association for Behavior Analysis International® (ABAI) is a nonprofit membership organization with the mission to contribute to the well-being of society by developing, enhancing, and supporting the growth and vitality of the science of behavior analysis through research, education, and practice. (abainternational.org)
  • Regarding the lack of nonhuman research, it is largely a consequence of an over-reliance on electric-shock-based procedures which, notwithstanding their role in the success of preeminent behavior-analytic research programs in the past, have been increasingly criticized on ethical, practical, and ecological validity grounds. (abainternational.org)
  • Building on a decade of research showing improved safety attitudes and behaviors, using simulation and interactive learning tools, an immersive serious game, Hazard Ridge, was developed to engage this at risk population and motivate them toward changed attitudes and safe behaviors. (cdc.gov)
  • Hundreds of species of fish use electricity as a mechanism for sensing and communicating. (jhu.edu)
  • Why Do Electric Eels Need Electricity? (animalfunfacts.net)
  • It can power electric wheelchairs and other motorized medical equipment if there is an electricity outage. (cdc.gov)
  • The knowledge that electricity could be used to treat pain dates as far back as observations by Scribonius that the pain of gout could be relieved by contact with torpedo fish. (medscape.com)
  • Neuroethology refers to the study of the neural basis of natural behavior in animals. (scholarpedia.org)
  • Aggression is one of the most common types of behavior in animals. (biologists.com)
  • We here argue that electrical coupling - in addition to chemical synapses - may therefore contribute to the formation of at least some cell assemblies in adult animals. (degruyter.com)
  • Rays also belong to a group of fishes, the elasmobranchs, whose electrical sensitivity seems to exceed that of all other animals. (eol.org)
  • We measured changes in body width as the animals moved through these openings and documented the behaviors associated with this ability. (silverchair.com)
  • This is very unusual, because electric eels actually are solitary animals. (animalfunfacts.net)
  • PCBs are synthetic molecules that were used in transformers, electric motors, and more applications. (noldus.com)
  • PCBs have been used as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors, and other electrical equipment because they don't burn easily and are good insulators. (cdc.gov)
  • Products made before 1977 that may contain PCBs include old fluorescent lighting fixtures and electrical devices containing PCB capacitors, and old microscope and hydraulic oils. (cdc.gov)
  • PCBs are taken up by small organisms and fish in water. (cdc.gov)
  • PCBs accumulate in fish and marine mammals, reaching levels that may be many thousands of times higher than in water. (cdc.gov)
  • The main dietary sources of PCBs are fish (especially sportfish caught in contaminated lakes or rivers), meat, and dairy products. (cdc.gov)
  • of the SCN and song behavior are primarily mediated by testosterone (T) and its metabolites in most species studied thus far. (karger.com)
  • In 1872, Gill decided that the electric eel was sufficiently distinct to have its own family, Electrophoridae. (wikipedia.org)
  • De Santana's team first witnessed Volta's electric eel hunting in groups during a field expedition in August of 2012. (eurekalert.org)
  • A subsequent expedition in October 2014 found a similarly prodigious collection of Volta's electric eels in the same locality, which allowed Bastos to document the behavior in greater detail and confirm that it was not just a one-time event. (eurekalert.org)
  • Nevertheless, there have been some recent and somewhat counterintuitive human studies demonstrating that oxytocin in fact enhances responsiveness to aversive or painful stimuli like electric shock. (harvard.edu)
  • The fish is decorated with a bright yellow body with dorsal fins with black tips. (acaquarium.com)
  • E. voltai mainly eats fish, in particular the armoured catfish Megalechis thoracata. (wikipedia.org)
  • Damselfish are shoaling reef fish that live in coral outcroppings that are used as hiding places and territories. (petplace.com)
  • The Damselfish, also known as the Half-blue Damselfish, is a two-tone, darting marine fish. (liveaquaria.com)
  • Some call C. parasema the Azure Damselfish, however, in the aquarium trade, the Azure Damselfish is considered to be this fish, C. hemicyanea . (liveaquaria.com)
  • Unlike many other Cichlids , the Electric Blue Acara is not aggressive outside the breeding season and can be kept peacefully with a wide range of tank mates. (fishinformer.com)
  • You won't need much to create a thriving environment for electric yellow cichlids. (acaquarium.com)
  • The findings overturn the idea that these serpentine fish are exclusively solitary predators and open the door to new questions about how these little-understood fish live. (eurekalert.org)
  • On its own, this was an intriguing discovery, electric eels--a type of knifefish rather than true eels--were thought to be solitary creatures. (eurekalert.org)
  • The findings overturn the idea that these serpentine fish are exclusively solitary predators and open the door to new questions about how these little-understood fish live.This new paper is the latest in a string of revelations about the mysterious lives of South America's electric fishes. (phys.org)
  • Their bodies contain electric organs with about 6,000 specialized cells called electrocytes that store power like tiny batteries. (nationalgeographic.com)
  • Many of the behaviors studied are rather complex, often occurring in the context of social interactions between conspecifics. (scholarpedia.org)
  • In safety and health, culture can be defined as a system of shared beliefs and behaviors that affects how workers from different ethnic and social groups perceive, understand, adapt to and address safety concerns at work. (cdc.gov)
  • When it comes to feeding an Electric Blue Acara, it's important to remember that their natural diet has a lot of variety. (fishinformer.com)
  • Until recently, it was assumed that electric eels "only" manage 550 to 650 volts. (animalfunfacts.net)
  • For the majority of the day and the night, the eels lay almost motionless in the deeper end of the lake, only occasionally coming to the surface to breathe-- electric eels get the vast majority of their oxygen from air , an adaptation in response to the low-oxygen waters they sometimes inhabit. (eurekalert.org)
  • Elasmobranch fishes are equipped with ampullae of Lorenzini, electroreceptor organs that contain receptor cells and canals leading to pores in the animal's skin. (eol.org)
  • In lab experiments, stingrays changed their feeding location according to artificially induced changes in the electrical field around them. (eol.org)
  • Study 1 focuses on the development of alternatives to shock-based procedures, entailing experiments with rats, gerbils, and fish. (abainternational.org)
  • They may occasionally uproot aquarium plants in their digging, but most people don't find it a problem behavior. (fishinformer.com)
  • This study explores two metaheuristic-algorithms, i.e., artificial bee colony (ABC), and artificial fish swarm (AFS), for the optimization of artificial neural network (ANN) model. (researchgate.net)