Structure-function relationships in fish otolith organs

Sound is increasingly being considered as a method to observe and/or contro l movements of fish. However, before designing acoustic methods for these t asks, it is necessary to understand how and what fish can hear, and how the y respond to different types of sounds. In this paper we review the basic s tructure of the auditory system and describe the hearing capabilities of te leost fishes. There is considerable interspecific variation in fish ears an d in the more peripheral structures associated with hearing (e.g., swim bla dder) and this may have consequences for extrapolation of data between spec ies with regard to hearing. There are also significant differences in the f requency range of sounds that may be detected by fishes and in the sensitiv ity to these sounds, and this certainly affects the nature of the signals t hat are usable in fish observation and control. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B .V. All rights reserved.