Abstract
IT has been reported that fish do not appear to react to rectilinear accelerations1. However, they have the sense organs to detect such movements; the otolith organs of the thornback ray are sensitive to linear translations in all three planes of space2 and teleosts take up compensatory positions when subjected to centrifugal force3. Some experiments were therefore made to re-examine the reactions of fish to rectilinear accelerations, blinded minnows, goldfish and naturally blind cave characins, Anoptichthys jordani, being used in the preliminary observations. The fish were placed in an enclosed ‘Perspex’ tank, completely filled with water, and mounted on a rubber-wheeled chassis. They appeared to turn about when the tank was accelerated along a bench by hand.
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References
Lowenstein, O., Z. vergl. Physiol., 17, 806 (1932). Gray, J., J. Exp. Biol., 14, 95 (1937).
Lowenstein, O., and Roberts, T. D. M., J. Physiol., 110, 392 (1949).
v. Hoist, E., Z. vergl. Physiol., 32, 60 (1950).
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JONES, F. An Apparent Reaction of Fish to Linear Accelerations. Nature 178, 642–643 (1956). https://doi.org/10.1038/178642a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/178642a0
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