#electroreception — Public Fediverse posts

Did you know that sharks can "smell" more than just blood.

#sharkfacts #ampullaeoflorenzini #electroreception #marinebiology #sharkweek

@AquaClaire
6/
They are quite literally feeling your presence in the water, reading your steady heartbeat and calm energy. It is an active, two-way conversation of biology!

#MantaRay
#electroreception
#photography
#AltText

@AquaClaire
5/
When a diver is completely calm and breathing steadily, their body emits a steady, rhythmic bio-electric frequency. Manta rays can instantly sense this. Because they have massive brains relative to their body size, they are profoundly analytical. When they approach a diver closely and hover, they are combining their vision with their electroreceptors to create a complete "sensory map" of you.

#MantaRays
#electroreception

@AquaClaire
3/
The Anatomy: If you look closely at the underside of a ray’s face, you will see clusters of tiny, dark pores.

How It Works: Each pore opens into a long canal filled with a highly conductive, clear jelly. At the very bottom of the canal sits a pocket of specialized nerve cells.

The Interface: When an animal’s bio-electric field passes over the ray's skin, the electrical current travels down the conductive jelly, triggering the nerve cells.

#stingrays
#electroreception

@AquaClaire
1/
Diving with manta rays is the absolute pinnacle of ocean experiences! You're entirely right—they are incredibly intelligent, curious, and gentle giants.

Here is a breakdown of how these incredible bio-electric fields work.

Manta rays, stingrays, and sharks possess a "sixth sense" called #electroreception. This allows them to detect the microscopic electrical fields generated by all living creatures.

Why Do Treehoppers Have Such Bizarro Body Shapes?

"Treehoppers detect electrical fields emitted by their predators and may also distinguish between electrical fields emitted by their predators and friendly insects."

#SciComm by @GrrlScientist

#treehoppers #insects #BodyShape #morphology #ElectricalFields #Electroreception https://grrlscientist.medium.com/why-do-treehoppers-have-such-bizarro-body-shapes-c60cd937b6a3

Why Do Treehoppers Have Such Bizarro Body Shapes?

"Treehoppers detect electrical fields emitted by their predators and may also distinguish between electrical fields emitted by their predators and friendly insects."

#SciComm by @grrlscientist

#treehoppers #insects #BodyShape #morphology #ElectricalFields #Electroreception https://grrlscientist.medium.com/why-do-treehoppers-have-such-bizarro-body-shapes-c60cd937b6a3

Why Do Treehoppers Have Such Bizarro Body Shapes? study out of University of Bristol, published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

"Treehoppers detect electrical fields emitted by their predators and may also distinguish between electrical fields emitted by their predators and friendly insects"

#SciComm by @grrlscientist

#insects #morphology #evolution #electroreception #StaticElectricity https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2025/08/08/why-do-treehoppers-have-such-bizarro-body-shapes/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225008119

(if I were a farmer reliant on pollination, I'd get the wax out of my ears on this massive effect)

"Aerial #electroreception…in #arthropods, including #bees, which can use #floralEfields as foraging cues…
…we demonstrate that weak #anthropogenicEfields…significantly alter #honeybee floral landing behaviors. AC and positive DC fields reduced landings by 71% and 53%, respectively, whereas negative DC fields had no statistically significant impact."

Hummingbird flower #mites found to use #electroreception to hitch rides on #hummingbirds between flowers https://phys.org/news/2025-01-hummingbird-mites-electroreception-hitch-hummingbirds.html

Electric transportation and electroreception in hummingbird flower mites https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2419214122

"for a mite to catch a ride, all it needed to do was move a few steps closer to the arriving #hummingbird. Once it landed, it would remain in the #bird's nostrils to prevent being blown off as the bird flew. It could then jump down onto a flower as the hummingbird fed"

Biologists discover #caterpillars are able to sense #electrostatic fields generated by #predators.

#sensing #electroreception

https://phys.org/news/2024-05-biologists-caterpillars-electrostatic-fields-generated.html

New #BottlenoseDolphin sense discovered: Research suggests they can feel weak electric fields https://phys.org/news/2023-11-bottlenose-dolphin-weak-electric-fields.html

Passive #electroreception in bottlenose #dolphins: implication for micro- and large-scale orientation https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/226/22/jeb245845/334721/Passive-electroreception-in-bottlenose-dolphins

"This helps a #dolphin search for #fish hidden in sediment over the last few centimeters before snapping them up, in contrast to #sharks, the electrosensitive superstars, which are capable of sensing the electric fields of fish within 30–70cm."

Conservation behaviour. Many shark and ray species use electroreceptors (ampullae of Lorenzini) to detect minute electric activities in their preys. Field experiments show that bycatches decrease when longlines are equipped with electrical deterrent devices.

#Science #biology #animalbehaviour #predation #predator #ecology #conservation #shark #fishery #electroreception #bycatch #longline

📄 Doherty et al (2022) Current Biology 32:R1260–R1261 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.09.003