Fish species utilize water currents to evade predation, detect prey movements and navigate in various turbid oceanic habitats. Teleost fish have a lateral line, a mechanosensory system, which extends along the sides of the fish from the head to the tip of the caudal fin (Montgomery et al., 1997, p. 961). Minute movements and vibrations in the water system are sensed by neuromast cells in the lateral line (Montgomery et al., 1997, p. 962).
There exists hundreds of neuromast cells in various regions of the fish in two forms, superficial neuromast cells that are not attached to anything else but the skin and canal neuromast cells, lying in a fluid filled canal (Blaxter et al., 1989, p. 486). Each neuromast cell is comprised of both hair cells and a cupula, this functions to attach the the ciliary bundles found on the hair cells of fish to fluid filled canals (Suli et al., 2012, p.27). Hair cells are centrally located in neuromast cells and are positioned in two contrasting directions extending into the cupula (Bleckmann, H., …show more content…
178). A movement due to a current will trigger the deflection of the hair cells, this will produce a change in the voltage; this change is then conveyed to the CNS (Bleckmann, H., 1986, p. 178). Furthermore, the lateral line provides information that is critical for