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Cited by 19Spatial Cognition and NavigationSubterranean biodiversity and taxonomyFish biology, ecology, and behavior

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Extra-Visual Systems in the Spatial Reorientation of Cavefish

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Sovrano, Valeria Anna, Potrich, Davide, Foà, Augusto, Bertolucci, Cristiano·2018·Scientific Reports
DOI 10.1038/s41598-018-36167-9PMC PMC6283829
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Abstract

Disoriented humans and animals are able to reorient themselves using environmental geometry (“metric properties” and “sense”) and local features, also relating geometric to non-geometric information. Here we investigated the presence of these reorientation spatial skills in two species of blind cavefish (Astyanax mexicanus and Phreatichthys andruzzii), in order to understand the possible role of extra-visual senses in similar spatial tasks. In a rectangular apparatus, with all homogeneous walls (geometric condition) or in presence of a tactilely different wall (feature condition), cavefish were required to reorient themselves after passive disorientation. We provided the first evidence that blind cavefish, using extra-visual systems, were able i) to use geometric cues, provided by the shape of the tank, in order to recognize two geometric equivalent corners on the diagonal, and ii) to integrate the geometric information with the salient cue (wall with a different surface structure), in order to recover a specific corner. These findings suggest the ecological salience of the environmental geometry for spatial orientation in animals and, despite the different niches of adaptation, a potential shared background for spatial navigation. The geometric spatial encoding seems to constitute a common cognitive tool needed when the environment poses similar requirements to living organisms.

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  • A number of studies have demonstrated that teleost fish can rely on the geometry or global shape of the environmental boundaries and surfaces for orientation and navigation.

    “a number of studies have demonstrated also that teleost fish can rely on the geometry or global shape of the environmental boundaries and surfaces for orientation and navigation”

    From Spatial Cognition in Teleost Fish: Strategies and Mechanisms (2021) · cites this paper as [24]

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Metadata

Authors
Sovrano, V. A., Potrich, D., Foà, A., & Bertolucci, C.
Affiliations
  • University of Trento (IT)
  • University of Ferrara (IT)
Corresponding author
Sovrano, Valeria Anna
ORCID
Venue
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2018-12-06
Volume
8
Issue
1
Pages
17698-17698
ISSN
2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/s41598-018-36167-9
PMC
PMC6283829
OpenAlex
W2902175327
Cited by
19
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2
FWCI
1.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Institutional Research Information System (Università degli Studi di Trento) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • Institutional Research Information System University of Ferrara (University of Ferrara) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Università degli Studi di Ferrara (FAR 2014)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Fish biology, ecology, and behavior
Keywords
spatial reorientation, blind cavefish, Astyanax mexicanus, environmental geometry, geometric cues, tactile cues, disorientation, spatial navigation, animal cognition
MeSH terms
Animals, Cues, Discrimination Learning, Fishes, Orientation, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Space Perception

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