Pulses of electricity give some fish the ability to identify objects or prey, and a little shimmy helps them take several snapshots that give their underwater world depth
Life
12 December 2022
Peters’s elephant nose fish produce electric fields that help them navigate the world blickwinkel / Alamy Stock Photo
Elephant-nose fish need to twist, pace and shimmy to accurately “see” the shapes of objects when interpreting wobbles in electric fields.
Peters’s elephant-nose fish (Gnathonemus petersii) is native to the rivers of west and central Africa. It and its close relatives are “weakly electric” fish that can produce a small electric discharge too feeble to stun prey. But sensors in their skin can use the resulting electric field around their bodies to detect prey and underwater obstacles. …
