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Lateral line
 
 
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In aquatic organisms (chiefly fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
), the lateral line is a sense
Sense

Senses are the physiological methods of perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology , and philosophy of perception....
 organ used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the gill cover
Operculum (fish)

The operculum of a Osteichthyes is the hard bony flap covering and protecting the gills. In most fish, the rear edge of the operculum roughly marks the division between the head and the body....
s to the base of the tail. Sometimes parts of the lateral organ are modified into electroreceptors
Electroreception

Electroreception, sometimes called electroception, is the biological ability to perceive electrical impulses. It is particularly common among aquatic creatures since salt water is a Conductor , while air is not....
, which are organs used to detect electrical
Electricity

Electricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena such as lightning and static electricity, but in addition, less familiar concepts such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction....
 impulses. It is possible that vertebrate
Vertebrate

Vertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata, chordates with Vertebras or Vertebral columns. The grouping sometimes includes the hagfish, which have no vertebrae, but are genetically quite closely related to lampreys, which do have vertebrae....
s such as shark
Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full Cartilage skeleton and a highly Streamlines, streaklines and pathlinesd body. They respire with the use of five to seven gill slits....
s use the lateral organs to detect magnetic field
Magnetic field

A magnetism field is a vector field which can exert a magnetic force on moving electric charges and on magnetic dipoles . When placed in a magnetic field, magnetic dipoles tend to align their axes parallel to the magnetic field....
s as well (along with Ampullae of Lorenzini
Ampullae of Lorenzini

The ampullae of Lorenzini are special sensing Organ s called electroreceptors, forming a network of jelly-filled canals in cartilaginous fishes ....
).






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In aquatic organisms (chiefly fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
), the lateral line is a sense
Sense

Senses are the physiological methods of perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology , and philosophy of perception....
 organ used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the gill cover
Operculum (fish)

The operculum of a Osteichthyes is the hard bony flap covering and protecting the gills. In most fish, the rear edge of the operculum roughly marks the division between the head and the body....
s to the base of the tail. Sometimes parts of the lateral organ are modified into electroreceptors
Electroreception

Electroreception, sometimes called electroception, is the biological ability to perceive electrical impulses. It is particularly common among aquatic creatures since salt water is a Conductor , while air is not....
, which are organs used to detect electrical
Electricity

Electricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena such as lightning and static electricity, but in addition, less familiar concepts such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction....
 impulses. It is possible that vertebrate
Vertebrate

Vertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata, chordates with Vertebras or Vertebral columns. The grouping sometimes includes the hagfish, which have no vertebrae, but are genetically quite closely related to lampreys, which do have vertebrae....
s such as shark
Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full Cartilage skeleton and a highly Streamlines, streaklines and pathlinesd body. They respire with the use of five to seven gill slits....
s use the lateral organs to detect magnetic field
Magnetic field

A magnetism field is a vector field which can exert a magnetic force on moving electric charges and on magnetic dipoles . When placed in a magnetic field, magnetic dipoles tend to align their axes parallel to the magnetic field....
s as well (along with Ampullae of Lorenzini
Ampullae of Lorenzini

The ampullae of Lorenzini are special sensing Organ s called electroreceptors, forming a network of jelly-filled canals in cartilaginous fishes ....
). Most amphibian
Amphibian

Amphibians , such as frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians, are cold-blooded animals that metamorphose from a juvenile, water-breathing form to an adult, air-breathing form....
 larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e and some adult amphibians also have a lateral organ. Some crustacean
Crustacean

Crustaceans are a large group of arthropods, comprising almost 52,000 described species , and are usually treated as a subphylum . They include various familiar animals, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles....
s and cephalopod
Cephalopod

The cephalopods are the mollusc class Cephalopoda characterized by bilateral symmetry, a prominent head, and a modification of the mollusk foot, a muscular hydrostat, into the form of cephalopod arms or tentacles....
s have similar organs.

Anatomy

The receptors in the lateral line are neuromasts, each of which is composed of a group of hair cells. The hairs are surrounded by a protruding jelly-like cupula, typically 1/10 to 1/5 mm long. The hair cells and cupolas of the neuromasts are usually at the bottom of a visible pit or groove in the fish. The hair cells in the lateral line are similar to the hair cells inside the vertebrate inner ear
Ear

The ear is the sense organ that detects sounds. The vertebrate ear shows a common biology from fish to humans, with variations in structure according to order and species....
, indicating that the lateral line and the inner ear share a common origin.

Teleosts
Teleostei

Teleostei is one of three infraclasses in class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes. This diverse group, which arose in the Triassic period, includes 20,000 extant species in about 40 orders; most living fishes are members of this group....
 and elasmobranchs
Elasmobranchii

Elasmobranchii is the subclass of cartilaginous fish that includes skates, batoidea, and shark....
 usually have lateral-line canals, in which the neuromasts are not directly exposed to the environment, but communicate with it via canal pores. Additional neuromasts may appear individually at various locations on the body surface.

Variations