Ghost knifefish make electric ‘chirps’ to spot where other fish are

It’s long been thought that the electrical chirps of brown ghost knifefish are for communication, but they might instead help improve electrolocation

Life



20 January 2023

By Michael Le Page

When one brown ghost knifefish “chirps” at another knifefish by altering the electrical field it produces, it has long been assumed it is communicating to with the other fish. But according to Livio Oboti at the Humboldt University of Berlin, these chirps are instead a kind of probe that helps a fish improve its electrolocation of objects, especially other electric fish.

Weakly electric fish generate a low-power electric field around their body, which they sense with special receptors in their skin. This allows them to detect …