Meeting Abstract

P1.166  Sunday, Jan. 4  The mechanical sensitivity of lateral line receptors in the Mexican cave fish (Astyanax mexicanus). VAN TRUMP, WJ*; STROTHER, JA; FEITL, KE; MCHENRY, MJ; UC Irvine; UC Irvine; UC Irvine; UC Irvine wvantrum@uci.edu

Mexican blind cave fish (Astyanax mexicanus) are thought to possess an enhanced ability to sense water flow as a means of avoiding obstacles in the dark compared to their river-dwelling relatives. We tested this idea by measuring the morphology of lateral line receptors, known as superficial neuromasts, and mathematically modeling their deflections when stimulated by an oscillatory flow stimulus. This modeling was achieved with a computation of the fluid-structure interactions between the flow stimulus and the neuromast. We found that the superficial neuromasts of blind cave fish do provide enhanced sensitivity to flow when compared with the smaller neuromasts of the sighted river-dwelling fish.