URI professor discovers fish that can feed without vision
Betsy Cohen
Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: News
During the daylight conditions tests, the cichlids were observed eating both live and dead brine shrimp. However, when the lights were turned off, only live brine shrimp were consumed.
"Because they couldn't see anything, they had to use another sense to detect their prey," Webb said. "They were using their lateral line system, which we had hypothesized they were using."
"Different fishes that live in Lake Malawi are evolutionarily unique in the sense that they all evolved from a common ancestor," Webb said. "The cichlids I studied in the genus of fishes Aulonocara have a particular lateral line morphology that is relatively unusual among fishes, most of these live in the deep sea."
Throughout the next three years, Webb will be studying the convergent evolution and development of the widened canal.
Fishes in the genus Aulonocara are commonly found in pet stores. All 16 species of fishes in this genus have widened lateral lines, although according to Webb, there are 12 families of fishes found worldwide with wide canals.
Cichlids are small, brilliantly-colored fish that live in sandy bottoms and occasionally in caves. In Lake Malawi they have been found habituating depths of 70 meters (210 feet,) a depth at which light cannot penetrate. Their diets consist of sand-dwelling invertebrates such as aquatic insects and other soft-bodied animals like crustaceans.
"Because they couldn't see anything, they had to use another sense to detect their prey," Webb said. "They were using their lateral line system, which we had hypothesized they were using."
"Different fishes that live in Lake Malawi are evolutionarily unique in the sense that they all evolved from a common ancestor," Webb said. "The cichlids I studied in the genus of fishes Aulonocara have a particular lateral line morphology that is relatively unusual among fishes, most of these live in the deep sea."
Throughout the next three years, Webb will be studying the convergent evolution and development of the widened canal.
Fishes in the genus Aulonocara are commonly found in pet stores. All 16 species of fishes in this genus have widened lateral lines, although according to Webb, there are 12 families of fishes found worldwide with wide canals.
Cichlids are small, brilliantly-colored fish that live in sandy bottoms and occasionally in caves. In Lake Malawi they have been found habituating depths of 70 meters (210 feet,) a depth at which light cannot penetrate. Their diets consist of sand-dwelling invertebrates such as aquatic insects and other soft-bodied animals like crustaceans.
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