The electric fish,Eigenmannia, is able to sense objects which differ in electrical conductivity from the surrounding water by detecting distortions of the current field associated with its electric organ discharges. While resting,Eigenmannia hovers near electrically-detectable objects and follows their motions. When such objects are swung in a sinusoidal manner, the fish follows with a certain gain and phase lag. This allows one to quantify performance in “electrolocation” in terms of gain and phase values as functions of frequency of object motion, object size and distance. As these parameters reach threshold values, the gain of the animal's Following Response approaches zero while its phase lag tends toward-π. Electrolocation deteriorates under “jamming” conditions, i.e. in the presence of electric signals with frequencies near the animal's discharge frequency.Eigenmannia prevents the deterioration of electrolocation by shifting its frequency away from noise frequencies.
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Department of Neurosciences of the School of Medicine and Meurobiology Unit of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
Walter Heiligenberg
This research was supported by an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant for research and training, a travel grant by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and grants from the NSF, NHI and ONR. I thank Prof. Bullock who pointed my interest toward quantifying the performance of electric fish and generously supported my studies. Thanks are also due to Carl Hopkins, David Lange and Eric Knudsen for their kind criticism of my manuscript and to Tom Uter for his assistance in electrical engineering.
About this article Cite this articleHeiligenberg, W. Electrolocation of objects in the electric fishEigenmannia (Rhamphichthyidae, Gymnotoidei). J. Comp. Physiol. 87, 137–164 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01352158
Received: 16 July 1973
Issue Date: June 1973
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01352158
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