Meeting Abstract

S1.8  Sunday, Jan. 4  Fluid-structure interaction in lateral line receptors MCHENRY, MJ*; STROTHER, JA; VAN TRUMP, WJ; Univ. of California, Irvine; Univ. of California, Irvine; Univ. of California, Irvine mmchenry@uci.edu

Many aquatic animals are exquisitely sensitive to water flow through the deflections of ciliated receptor organs. The sensitivity of these organs is governed by the fluid forces that act to create deflections and their structural resistance to these forces. In order to understand the fluid-structure interactions that govern flow sensing, we have developed mathematical models based on mechanical testing of the lateral line receptors in larval zebrafish (Danio rerio). Our findings suggest that these receptors encode the velocity of flow at the surface of the body and their resonant properties serve to attenuate high-frequency stimuli. Their sensitivity is largely determined by the height of the cupula and the height and number of hair cell kinocilia. The boundary layer over the body’s surface acts as a high-pass filter of flow stimuli. Therefore, the both the boundary layer and morphology of the cupula contribute layers of filtering to a superficial neuromast that have substantive effects on it the sensitivity of the lateral line system.