Electroreception

Electroreception, sometimes written as electroception, is the biological ability to receive and make use of electrical impulses.

Many fish have an electroception sense, believed to be associated with the lateral line system.

Sharks apparently have an electroception sense that works through receptors (like hair pores) on their snouts which allow them to sense electrical fields in the water; a problem with the early submarine telegraph cables was the damage by sharks that sensed the electrical pulses.

The electric eel, besides its ability to generate high voltage electric shocks, actually uses lower voltage pulses for navigation and sensing prey in the turbid waters in which it lives. Other gymnotiform fish also have the capability.

Monotremes are the only known mammals that possess the ability of electroception. The platypus is known to have the most acute sense.

External link

• ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research