The Senses of Fish

The sensory abilities of fish provide the essential basis for behavioural interaction with the environment. Simple elements of behaviour can result from endogenous brain activity but even in these cases, the behaviour is shaped by sensory context or feedback. At the other end of the spectrum, sensory reflexes are behavioural elements dominated by the sensory input itself. However, most on-going behaviour is a complex interplay of central activity and sensory input. The senses provide information on the opportunities and threats presented by the environment and this information feeds into central nervous system (CNS) activity in a way that typically generates what we observe as coordinated, context appropriate behaviour.