title: Lateral line layout correlates with the differential hydrodynamic pressure on swimming fish.
abstract: The lateral line of fish includes the canal subsystem that detects hydrodynamic pressure gradients and is thought to be important in swimming behaviors such as rheotaxis and prey tracking. Here, we explore the hypothesis that this sensory system is concentrated at locations where changes in pressure are greatest during motion through water. Using high-fidelity models of rainbow trout, we mimic the flows encountered during swimming while measuring pressure with fine spatial and temporal resolution. The variations in pressure for perturbations in body orientation and for disturbances to the incoming stream are seen to correlate with the sensory network. These findings support a view of the lateral line as a "hydrodynamic antenna" that is configured to retrieve flow signals and also suggest a physical explanation for the nearly universal sensory layout across diverse species.
authors.affiliation: Applied Math Lab, Courant Institute, New York University, New York, New York 10012, USA.
authors.forename: Leif
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ristroph
authors.affiliation: The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, Department of Biology, University of Florida, St. Augustine, Florida 32080, USA.
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Applied Math Lab, Courant Institute, New York University, New York, New York 10012, USA and Department of Physics, New York University, New York, New York 10012, USA and NYU-ECNU Institute of Mathematical Sciences at NYU-Shanghai, Shanghai 200122, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D053403:Lateral Line System / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D017686:Oncorhynchus mykiss / Q000502:physiology*; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology*