Navigation Links
Squid studies provide valuable insights into hearing mechanisms
Date:10/15/2010

To find out if squid have true, functioning "ears," Mooney tests whether the nerves coming from the statocysts send impulses in response to sound. He anesthetizes a squid and attaches an electrode just under the skin near the nerves that extend from the statocysts. He attaches another sensor into the squid's back to get baseline measurements of electrical signals, because that part of the body should not respond to sounds.

He then lowers the squid into a shallow, 3-foot-wide tank. Also in the tank is a speaker that can emit a broad range of sound frequenciespure tones repeated about 1,000 times for each frequency. He then records the 1,000 responses to each. Averaging those 1,000 responses reduces the natural, random electrical noise in the body yielding the electrical signals, in millivolts, that occur along the nerves after each tone. This hearing test method is similar to those used to checking hearing in human infants.

His preliminary findings indicate that nerve responses showed the squid "actually do hear," he said. "But they only hear up to a certain frequency, about 500 Hz, which is pretty typical of a lot of fish that don't hear very well." Humans hear from about 20-20,000 Hz. Squid also do not detect the very high frequency sounds of dolphin echolocation clicks.

That may help explain why squid are such a prolific food source: They may not always hear well enough to get out of the way of approaching predators. But when Mooney and his post-doc advisor [name?] put the squid in a CT scanner, they found that squid may avoid predators in another way: they are almost the same density as water. That is, when squid were scanned in water, the CT could not image the squid body, illustrating that squid are nearly transparent to sound. This would likely make them very difficult for echolocating predators to detect. So, perhaps, squid could not take the evolutionary leap to adapt ears to detect very high frequencies, but being close in dens
'/>"/>

Contact: Media Relations
media@whoi.edu
508-289-3340
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3 4 5

Related biology news :

1. Habitat of elusive Northern squid documented by researcher
2. URI researcher sheds light on man-eating squid; finds them timid, nonthreatening
3. URI researcher sheds light on man-eating squid; finds them timid, non-threatening
4. Ocean acidification from CO2 emissions will cause physiological impairment to jumbo squid
5. Studies provide new insights into the genetics of obesity and fat distribution
6. Got fish? Nutrition studies explore health benefits
7. Grant advances quark-gluon plasma studies

8. Thesis studies atmospheric PM contaminant in the Basque Autonomous Community
9. NIH grants will advance studies of the form and function of proteins
10. Marshall University researchers awarded more than $1 million for breast cancer studies
11. NIH-funded studies aim to prevent, treat childhood obesity
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:5/20/2013)... New Geology articles posted online ... cover a wide swath of geoscience subdisciplines, including ... and paleobotany. Locations studied include Siberia; the Sumatran ... Apuane, Italy; Ukraine; Mars; and the Southeastern U.S. ... Rubies, jadeite, and plate tectonics;, 2. The clear ...
(Date:5/19/2013)... of electricity-producing bacteria that can grow using hydrogen gas ... its sole source of carbon. Researchers at the ... 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. ... solely on hydrogen," says Amit Kumar, a researcher on ... of the Lovley Lab Group at the university. , ...
(Date:5/18/2013)... Research Foundation is honored to announce the first AGA-Caroline ... which will support Andrew D. Rhim, MD, from the ... Philadelphia, as he furthers his research on the role ... , "The AGA Research Foundation is humbled to issue ... AGA Legacy Society members," said Nicholas F. LaRusso, MD, ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):New in GEOLOGY: Gems, Darwin, Mars, Hemp, Snowball Earth, a Siberian Impact Crater, and More 2New in GEOLOGY: Gems, Darwin, Mars, Hemp, Snowball Earth, a Siberian Impact Crater, and More 3New in GEOLOGY: Gems, Darwin, Mars, Hemp, Snowball Earth, a Siberian Impact Crater, and More 4New in GEOLOGY: Gems, Darwin, Mars, Hemp, Snowball Earth, a Siberian Impact Crater, and More 5New in GEOLOGY: Gems, Darwin, Mars, Hemp, Snowball Earth, a Siberian Impact Crater, and More 6New in GEOLOGY: Gems, Darwin, Mars, Hemp, Snowball Earth, a Siberian Impact Crater, and More 7New in GEOLOGY: Gems, Darwin, Mars, Hemp, Snowball Earth, a Siberian Impact Crater, and More 8New in GEOLOGY: Gems, Darwin, Mars, Hemp, Snowball Earth, a Siberian Impact Crater, and More 9New in GEOLOGY: Gems, Darwin, Mars, Hemp, Snowball Earth, a Siberian Impact Crater, and More 10New in GEOLOGY: Gems, Darwin, Mars, Hemp, Snowball Earth, a Siberian Impact Crater, and More 11AGA Research Foundation grant furthers digestive cancer research 2
... something to be said for first impressions. New research ... take just 20 seconds to detect whether a stranger ... The findings reinforce that healthy humans are wired ... a tough situation. They also pave the way for ...
... Florida State University oceanography professor Allan Clarke grew up in ... ocean, the beach and the warmth of thesun. Little did ... one day lead him to become an international expert on ... symbol of the professional esteem with which he is regarded ...
... 90 percent of cancer deaths are caused by secondary tumors, ... To become mobile and break free from the original ... environment. Many cells have been implicated in this process, including ... collaborator in metastasis is platelets, the blood cells whose normal ...
Cached Biology News:Is a stranger trustworthy? You'll know in 20 seconds 2FSU professor wins major meteorology award for research on El Nino 2FSU professor wins major meteorology award for research on El Nino 3MIT: Uncovering a key player in metastasis 2MIT: Uncovering a key player in metastasis 3
(Date:5/22/2013)... (PRWEB) May 22, 2013 ... sound therapy for tinnitus treatment. AudioNotch is pleased ... . With clinic locations in both British Columbia ... of audiology and hearing services. AudioNotch's tinnitus treatment ... , Upon entering a Destination Hearing clinic, patients ...
(Date:5/22/2013)... Express Diagnostics Int’l, Inc. (EDI) ... are pleased to announce a sponsorship agreement with Erebus ... Zealand distributor of DrugCheck® onsite testing devices, manufactured by ... the Austin 400 May 17-19 in Austin, Texas. , ... involves each car of the Erebus Motorsport team displaying ...
(Date:5/22/2013)... (PRWEB) May 22, 2013 Envera announced ... Fermentation Manager. Mr. McErlean has an extensive background ... leadership positions throughout his career. , Mike ... very pleased to have Mike join our team”. “Mike’s ... large scale fermentation and downstream processing equipment”, ...
(Date:5/22/2013)... May 22, 2013 The ability ... deciphering the information they encode. There are now ... (deep sequencing of ribosome protected fragments) that dramatically ... , Keynote speakers include Dr. Jonathan Weissman, an ... the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, who will present ...
Breaking Biology Technology:AudioNotch Tinnitus Treatment Launches Partnership With Destination Hearing 2Australian Distributor of Express Diagnostics Signs Sponsorship Agreement with V8 Supercar Team 2Envera Appoints Michael McErlean Fermentation Manager 2Monitoring Protein Synthesis One Codon at a Time Through Ribosome Profiling, a Webinar Hosted by Xtalks 2
... NEW YORK , Feb. 10 DuPont (NYSE: ... said he expects the DuPont Agriculture & Nutrition segment to ... income margin across the seed, crop protection, and nutrition and health ... their needs is paying off," Borel said at the Goldman Sachs ...
... granted in Europe , China and other ... /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - YM BioSciences Inc. (NYSE YMI, TSX:YM), ... the US for AeroLEF(R), the Company,s proprietary, inhaled-delivery composition of ... moderate to severe acute pain. US patent numbers 7,648,981 and ...
... Ontario--Just because you don,t swallow the worm at the bottom ... the essential worminess of the potent Mexican liquor, according to ... University of Guelph. , They have discovered that the ... the famously tasty mescal "worm". , As part of ...
Cached Biology Technology:DuPont Expects Strong 2010 Agriculture & Nutrition Sales Growth, Margin Expansion 2DuPont Expects Strong 2010 Agriculture & Nutrition Sales Growth, Margin Expansion 3DuPont Expects Strong 2010 Agriculture & Nutrition Sales Growth, Margin Expansion 4DuPont Expects Strong 2010 Agriculture & Nutrition Sales Growth, Margin Expansion 5YM BioSciences granted two US patents for AeroLEF(R) 2YM BioSciences granted two US patents for AeroLEF(R) 3YM BioSciences granted two US patents for AeroLEF(R) 4Mescal worm test shows DNA leaks into preservative liquids 2
Request Info...
Porcine IFN-gamma ELISpot Development Module...
... 5 ml of DETACHaBEAD 19 polyclonal ... CD19 (Pan B). B cells ... and released with DETACHaBEAD CD19 are ... suitable for applications such as culturing ...
This Malachite Green Phosphate Detection Kit...
Biology Products: