QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by KARLSEN, H. E. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by KARLSEN, H. E.

Journal of Experimental Biology 171,173-187 (1992)
Published by Company of Biologists 1992

Infrasound Sensitivity in the Plaice (Pleuronectes Platessa)

HANS ERIK KARLSEN ¹

¹ Institute of Biology, University of Oslo, 0316 Oslo, Norway

The sensitivity of plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) to infrasound has been examined using a seawater-filled test chamber suspended by steel wires like a swing and driven by a vibrator. The sensitivity to low-frequency vibrations was determined using the cardiac conditioning technique. All plaice readily responded to infrasound down to 0.1 Hz, which was the lowest frequency tested, with threshold values of approximately 4x10^-5 ms^-2 rms. This sensitivity is comparable to infrasound thresholds found in other fish species and it agrees with the acceleration thresholds for plaice in the frequency range 30–100 Hz. The water movements relative to the fish surface produced during stimulation were below lateral-line thresholds. The inner ear otolith organs are thus probably responsible for the observed responses to infrasound. The hearing capabilities of plaice may be explained by these organs functioning as slightly underdamped harmonic oscillators with a resonant frequency close to 100Hz.

Key words: infrasound, hearing, fish, Pleuronectes platessa

Accepted on June 22, 1992

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. S. Wethey and S. A. Woodin Infaunal Hydraulics Generate Porewater Pressure Signals Biol. Bull., October 1, 2005; 209(2): 139 - 145. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. E. Karlsen, R. W. Piddington, P. S. Enger, and O. Sand Infrasound initiates directional fast-start escape responses in juvenile roach Rutilus rutilus J. Exp. Biol., November 15, 2004; 207(24): 4185 - 4193. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]