Abstract
An African electric fish, Gymnarchus, and a South American electric fish, Eigenmannia, are believed to have evolved their electrosensory systems independently. Both fishes, nevertheless, gradually shift the frequency of electric organ discharge away when they encounter a neighbor of a similar discharge frequency. Computational algorithms employed by Gymnarchus for this jamming avoidance response have been identified in this study for comparison with those of extensively studied Eigenmannia.
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1.
Gymnarchus determines whether it should raise or lower its discharge frequency based solely upon the signal mixture of its own reafferent and the exafferent signal from a neighbor, and does not internally refer to the pacemaker command signal which drives its own discharge.
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2.
The signal mixture is analyzed in terms of the time courses of amplitude modulation and phase modulation at each area of the body surface.
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3.
Phase of the signal mixture at each area is compared with that of another area for the detection of phase modulation.
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4.
Unambiguous information necessary for the jamming avoidance response is extracted by integrating information from all body areas each of which yields ambiguous information.
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5.
These computational features are identical to those of Eigenmannia, suggesting that the neural circuit for jamming avoidance responses may have evolved from preexisting mechanisms for electrolocation in both fishes.
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Abbreviations
- EOD:
-
Electric Organ Discharge
- Δf :
-
frequency difference between f 2 and f 1. Δf=f 2−f 1
- f 1 :
-
frequency of S1 or of fish's own EOD
- f 2 :
-
frequency of S2, or of neighbor's EOD
- JAR:
-
Jamming Avoidance Response
- S1 :
-
sinusoidal stimulus simulating fish's own EOD
- S2 :
-
sinusoidal stimulus simulating neighbor's EOD
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Kawasaki, M. Independently evolved jamming avoidance responses employ identical computational algorithms: a behavioral study of the African electric fish, Gymnarchus niloticus . J Comp Physiol A 173, 9–22 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00209614
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00209614