Blind Cavefish Navigates With Mouth Suction
Suction as seeing A mexican tetra using mouth suction to navigate an aquarium. Roi Holzman et al Mexican tetras, or blind cavefish, have a unique way of navigating through their environment, not seen in other animals: They use their mouths to create waves of suction, which are then reflected onto their skin, helping the fish avoid obstacles. They create the suction by opening and shutting their mouths, appearing to go "oop, oop." In a recent study, scientists found that the fish do this 3.5 times more often than usual when the orientation of their aquarium has been moved around. They are like other fish in possessing a lateral line, an organ that can sense currents and pressure changes in the water. But the suction creates currents 50 times stronger than those from swimming...