Meeting Abstract

38.1  Sunday, Jan. 5 08:00  The role of the lateral line system in foraging by zebrafish larvae CARRILLO, A.*; GARCIA, D.A.; MCHENRY, M.J.; Univ. of California, Irvine; Cerritos College; Univ. of California, Irvine andresc2@uci.edu

Adult fish use the lateral line system to localize prey by sensing water flow, but it is unclear when this ability is acquired over the course of growth. We investigated the role of the lateral line in foraging by zebrafish (Danio rerio) over the first month of development. By filming individual larvae as they preyed upon Artemia nauplii, we found that compromising the lateral line with neomycin had no adverse effect on feeding rate under illuminated conditions at any age. However, a functional lateral line began to significantly enhance feeding in the dark in larvae older than 20 days-post fertilization. To understand what causes this enhanced sensory ability, we visualized lateral line hair cells with a vital stain. Consistent with prior studies, we found that the both the number of lateral line receptors and number of cells per receptor increased monotonically with age. These enhancements appear to contribute to the improved mechnosensory ability to localize mobile prey in older larvae. Thus, vision plays the major role in daytime feeding, but the development of the lateral line system could facilitate foraging at night or within turbid waters and thereby expand the potential niche for the larval stage of a fish species.