A multisensory perspective on near-field detection and localization of hydroacoustic sources

Abstract

This paper gives a brief synopsis of the research career of S.C. in fish bioacoustics with an emphasis on dipole near fields. The hydroacoustic nature of the dipole near field and the effective stimuli to lateral line and auditory systems combine to produce a multisensory, range-fractionated region that is critically important to many fish behaviors. The mottled sculpin and goldfish lateral lines encode the spatial complexities of the near field as spatial excitation patterns along the body surface to provide instantaneous snapshots of various source features such as distance, orientation, and direction of movement. In contrast, the pressure-sensitive channel of the goldfish auditory system [the anterior swim bladder (SB)-saccule complex] encodes the spatial complexities in a temporal fashion whenever the position or orientation of the source changes with respect to the anterior SB. A full appreciation for how these somatotopic and egocentric representations guide fish behavior requires an understanding of how multisensory information, including vision, is combined in sensorimotor regions of the brain to effect behavior. A brief overview of vertebrate brain organization indicates that behaviors directed to or away from hydroacoustic sources likely involve a variety of mechanisms, behavioral strategies, and brain regions.