Nelson Mark E, MacIver Malcolm A, Coombs Sheryl
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ill. 61801, USA.
Brain Behav Evol. 2002;59(4):199-210. doi: 10.1159/000064907.
Black ghost knifefish (Apteronotus albifrons) are nocturnal, weakly electric fish that feed on insect larvae and small crustaceans in the freshwater rivers of South America. In the absence of visual cues, prey detection and localization in this species is likely to rely on weak electrosensory and mechanosensory cues generated by the prey. In this paper, a modeling approach is used to estimate contributions to prey capture behavior from three octavolateralis modalities: the high- (tuberous) and low- (ampullary) frequency components of the electric sense and the high-frequency (canal neuromast) component of the lateral line mechanosensory system. For each of these modalities, the physical stimulus generated by the prey is approximated using a simple dipole model. Model parameters are constrained using previously published data as well as new empirical data on the electrical impedance characteristics of Daphnia magna. Models of electrosensory and mechanosensory stimuli are combined with actual prey strike trajectories from infrared video recordings to reconstruct spatial images of the prey along the sensory surface of the fish during the behavior. Modeling results suggest that all three modalities might contribute and that the relative contributions may change as a function of environmental conditions (e.g., water conductivity) and as a function of time over the course of the prey capture event.
黑鬼刀鱼（Apteronotus albifrons）是夜行性弱电鱼，以南美洲淡水河流中的昆虫幼虫和小型甲壳类动物为食。在没有视觉线索的情况下，该物种对猎物的探测和定位可能依赖于猎物产生的弱电感应和机械感应线索。在本文中，采用一种建模方法来估计八侧线系统的三种模态对猎物捕获行为的贡献：电觉的高频（瘤状）和低频（壶腹）成分，以及侧线机械感觉系统的高频（管神经丘）成分。对于这些模态中的每一种，使用简单的偶极子模型来近似猎物产生的物理刺激。模型参数通过先前发表的数据以及关于大型溞电阻抗特性的新实验数据来约束。电感应和机械感应刺激的模型与红外视频记录中的实际猎物攻击轨迹相结合，以重建行为期间猎物在鱼的感觉表面上的空间图像。建模结果表明，所有三种模态可能都有贡献，并且相对贡献可能会随着环境条件（例如水的电导率）以及猎物捕获事件过程中的时间而变化。
