Editing Lateral line (section)

== Function ==

The lateral line system allows the detection of movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the water surrounding an animal. It plays an essential role in orientation, predation, and [[School (fish)|fish schooling]] by providing spatial awareness and the ability to navigate in the environment.<ref name="Bleckmann Zelick 2009">{{Cite journal |last1=Bleckmann |first1=Horst |last2=Zelick |first2=Randy |date=2009-03-01 |title=Lateral line system of fish |journal=[[Integrative Zoology]] |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=13–25 |doi=10.1111/j.1749-4877.2008.00131.x |pmid=21392273 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Analysis has shown that the lateral line system should be an effective passive sensing system able to discriminate between submerged obstacles by their shape.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bouffanais |first1=Roland |last2=Weymouth |first2=Gabriel D. |last3=Yue |first3=Dick K. P. |title=Hydrodynamic object recognition using pressure sensing |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |date=2 June 2010 |volume=467 |issue=2125 |pages=19–38 |doi=10.1098/rspa.2010.0095 |s2cid=233793 |url=https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/349798/1/Bouffanais%25202011.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lakkam |first1=Sreetej |last2=Balamurali |first2=B. T. |last3=Bouffanais |first3=Roland |title=Hydrodynamic object identification with artificial neural models |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |date=2 August 2019 |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=11242 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-47747-8 |pmid=31375742 |pmc=6677828 |arxiv=1903.00828 |bibcode=2019NatSR...911242L |doi-access=free }}</ref> The lateral line allows fish to navigate and hunt in water with poor visibility.<ref name="Collin Marshall 2003">{{cite book |last1=Coombs |first1=Sheryl |last2=Braun |first2=Christopher B. |chapter=Information Processing by the Lateral Line System |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-0-387-22628-6_7 |editor1-last=Collin |editor1-first=Shaun P. |editor2-last=Marshall |editor2-first=N. Justin |title=Sensory Processing in Aquatic Environments |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-387-95527-8 |pages=122–138 |doi=10.1007/978-0-387-22628-6_7 }}</ref>

The lateral line system enables predatory fishes to detect vibrations made by their prey, and to orient towards the source to begin predatory action.<ref name="Coombs">{{cite journal |last1=Coombs |first1=S. I. |last2=Braun |first2=C. B. |last3=Donovan |first3=B. |title=The orienting response of Lake Michigan mottled sculpin is mediated by canal neuromasts |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |date=2001 |volume=204 |issue=2 |pages=337–348 |doi=10.1242/jeb.204.2.337 |pmid=11136619 |bibcode=2001JExpB.204..337C }}</ref> Blinded predatory fishes remain able to hunt, but not when lateral line function is inhibited by [[Cobalt(II) chloride|cobalt ions]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Karlsen |first1=H. E. |last2=Sand |first2=O. |year=1987 |title=Selective and Reversible Blocking of the Lateral Line in Freshwater Fish |journal=[[The Journal of Experimental Biology]] |volume=133 |issue=1 |pages=249–262 |doi=10.1242/jeb.133.1.249 |doi-access=free |bibcode=1987JExpB.133..249K }}</ref>

The lateral line plays a role in fish schooling. Blinded ''[[Pollachius virens]]'' were able to integrate into a school, whereas fish with severed lateral lines could not.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pitcher |first1=T. |last2=Partridge |first2=B. |last3=Wardle |first3=C. |year=1976 |title=A blind fish can school |journal=Science |volume=194 |issue=4268|pages=963–965 |doi=10.1126/science.982056 |pmid=982056 |bibcode=1976Sci...194..963P }}</ref> It may have evolved further to allow fish to forage in dark caves. In Mexican blind cave fish, ''[[Mexican tetra|Astyanax mexicanus]]'', neuromasts in and around the [[Orbit (anatomy)|orbit of the eye]] are bigger and around twice as sensitive as those of surface-living fish.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yoshizawa |first1=Masato |last2=Jeffery |first2=William |last3=Van Netten |first3=Sietse |last4=McHenry |first4=Matthew |title=The sensitivity of lateral line receptors and their role in the behavior of Mexican blind cavefish, ''Astyanax mexicanus'' |journal=[[The Journal of Experimental Biology]] |date=2014 |volume=217 |issue=6 |pages=886–895 |pmid=24265419 |doi=10.1242/jeb.094599 |pmc=3951362 }}</ref>

One function of schooling may be to confuse the lateral line of [[Predation|predatory]] fishes. A single prey fish creates a simple [[particle velocity]] pattern, whereas the pressure gradients of many closely swimming (schooling) prey fish overlap, creating a complex pattern. This makes it difficult for predatory fishes to identify individual prey through lateral line perception.<ref name="Larsson 2009">{{cite journal |last=Larsson |first=M. |year=2009 |title=Possible functions of the octavolateralis system in fish schooling |journal=Fish and Fisheries |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=344–355 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-2979.2009.00330.x|bibcode=2009AqFF...10..344L |url=https://zenodo.org/record/895913 }}</ref>