Study shows how skates, rays and sharks sense electrical fields
Monday, March 6, 2017 - 15:51
in Biology & Nature
Sharks, rays and skates can hunt for prey hidden in the sandy sea floor by 'listening' for faint traces of bioelectricity -- they can literally sense their prey's heart beating. The basic anatomy of the electro-sensory organs that accomplish this feat has been known for decades, but the biological mechanisms -- how electrosensory cells pick up faint electrical signs of life -- has remained a puzzle.