![]() ![]() There didn’t seem to be any common thread to the amino acids that sent the nerve into overdrive. One particular group of amino acids-the building blocks of proteins-triggered a powerful reaction in a nerve within the fish’s barbels.Īt first, it didn’t make sense. But as he exposed the fish to various chemicals, he noticed something odd. He had already worked with similar animals in the Gulf of Mexico, and he wanted to know if their Japanese counterparts taste the world in a similar way. “These systems evolved in vertebrates in the water, so you have to go and ask the fish.”īy 1984, Caprio travelled to Japan to work with marine catfish. “Why are there these two chemical senses, when you have just one visual one and one auditory one?” he says. He has long been fascinated how the nervous system encodes information about taste and smell. When this predator swims ahead, a simple exhalation gives its prey away.Ĭaprio’s discovery, published today, is the culmination of around 25 years of on-and-off work. They are so sensitive that they can pick up the tiny changes in acidity produced by a breathing worm. But John Caprio from Louisiana State University has discovered that the barbels are also pH meters. They house tastebuds that allow the animal to detect chemicals in the water around it. Like all catfishes, this species has long whiskers or barbels sticking out of its face. It’s enough for the Japanese sea catfish. ![]() The change is tiny, fleeting and restricted to a 5 millimetres zone around the burrow’s entrance. As it does, it releases spurts of carbon dioxide, which makes the water above its burrow ever so slightly more acidic. It doesn’t disturb the surrounding water. A bristle worm, buried in the sand at the bottom of the ocean, might seem safe. ![]()
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