Ultrasound detection by clupeiform fishes.

It has previously been shown that at least one species of fish (the American shad) in the order clupeiforms (herrings, shads, and relatives) is able to detect sounds up to 180 kHz. However, it has not been clear whether other members of this order are also able to detect ultrasound. It is now demonstrated, using auditory brainstem response (ABR), that at least one additional species, the gulf menhaden (Brevoortia patronus), is able to detect ultrasound, while several other species including the bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli), scaled sardine (Harengula jaguana), and Spanish sardine (Sardinella aurita) only detect sounds to about 4 kHz.

Mechanisms for directional hearing in the sea catfish (Arius felis).

The marine catfish (Arius felis) uses directional hearing for the acoustical detection of obstacles, and is primarily dependent on the vector components of near-field acoustics. Directional sound, detected as lateral line action potentials, produces the strongest response on the side toward the stimulus. Responses are maximal in the 50-150 Hz range.

Behavioural thresholds for diffuse illumination in the goldfish.

Thresholds for diffuse, broad-band illumination were obtained for the goldfish (Carassius auratus) by avoidance conditioning. The light source was a television cathode-ray tube whose output was controlled over a range of 140 dB by a combination of 'brightness' control, blanking of scan lines, and neutral density filters. The threshold was calculated in terms of irradiance to be 2-9 X 10(-6) muW cm-2 (+/- a standard deviation of 1-4).