SENSORY SYSTEMS, PERCEPTION, AND LEARNING | Shocking Comments: Electrocommunication in Teleost Fish

Tropical freshwater fish in two orders, Gymnotiformes and Mormyriformes, produce weak electric discharges that they use for communication. The waveform and frequency of the continuous electric organ discharge conveys information about the species and sexual identity of a fish. Modulations of the electric organ discharge, such as chirps and interruptions, serve to communicate about intent during aggression and courtship. Electrocommunication signals differ between sexes and change seasonally. These seasonal sex differences are regulated by steroid hormones. Electrocommunication has become an important model in neuroethology because the activity of specific cell types in the underlying neural circuit can be closely related to the communication behavior of the whole animal.