Making sense of electrical sense in crayfish

Abstract

SUMMARY The five sensory modalities of humans are also found in a wide range of invertebrates. Other vertebrates have evolved additional special senses, such as the magnetic sense, which are also found in some invertebrates. However, there remain a few sensory abilities that curiously appear to be found in either vertebrates or invertebrates, but not both. For example, electrosensitivity — the ability to detect electric fields in water — which should benefit vertebrates and invertebrates alike, is apparently only used by vertebrates. However, recent reports suggest that some invertebrates could have an electric sense. Here we examine that possibility further and demonstrate a behavioural threshold to low-level electrical fields in two freshwater invertebrates. The responses are not low enough for them to detect the Earth's magnetic field as some other electroreceptive species can do, but sufficiently low for them to use in navigation or prey and predator detection. This finding challenges the current view of the sensory world of aquatic invertebrates and has implications for the evolution of this ability.