Horst Bleckmann – författare

The Lateral Line System provides an overview of the key concepts and issues surrounding the development, evolution, neurobiology, and function of the lateral line, a fascinating yet somewhat enigmatic flow-sensing system. The book examines the historical precedence for linking the auditory and lateral line systems, its structure and development, use of the lateral line system of zebrafish as a model system, physical principles governing the response properties of the lateral line, the behavioral relevance of this sensory system to the lives of fish, and an examination of how this information is shaped and encoded by the peripheral and central nervous systems.

Contents

The Gems of the Past: A Brief History of Lateral Line Research in the Context of the Hearing Sciences - Sheryl Coombs and Horst Bleckmann

Morphological Diversity, Development, and Evolution of the Mechanosensory Lateral Line System - Jacqueline F. Webb

The Hydrodynamic of Flow Stimuli - Matthew J. McHenry and James C. Liao

The Biophysics of the Fish Lateral Line - Sietse M. van Netten and Matthew J. McHenry

Sensory Ecology and Neuroethology of the Lateral Line - John Montgomery, Horst Bleckmann, and Sheryl Coombs

Information Encoding and Processing by the Peripheral Lateral Line System - Boris Philippe Chagnaud and Sheryl Coombs

The Central Nervous Organization of the Lateral Line System - Mario F. Wullimann and Benedikt Grothe

Central Processing of Lateral Line Information - Horst Bleckmann and Joachim Mogdans

Functional Overlap and Nonoverlap Between Lateral Line and Auditory Systems - Christopher B. Braun and Olav Sand

The Hearing Loss, Protection, and Regeneration in the Larval Zebrafish Lateral Line - Allison B. Coffin, Heather Brignull, David W. Raible, and Edwin WRubel

This book is the closing report of the national priority program Nature-Inspired Fluid Mechanics (Schwerpunktprogramm SPP 1207: Strömungsbeeinflussung in der Natur und Technik). Nature-inspired fluid mechanics is one subset of biomimetics, a discipline which has received increased attention over the last decade, with numerous faculties and degree courses devoted solely to exploring ‘nature as a model’ for engineering applications. To save locomotion energy, evolution has optimized the design of animals such that friction loss is minimized. In addition to many morphological adaptations, animals that are often exposed to water or air currents have developed special behaviors that allow them to use the energy contained in air or water fluctuations for energy savings. Such flow manipulation and control is not only important for many animals, but also for many engineering applications. Since living beings have been optimized by several million years of evolution it is very likely that many engineering disciplines can profit from the study of systems found in nature. Curiously, there has been little serious cross-disciplinary work and information exchange on the topic of fluid dynamics and flow control and this was the initial motivation to establish this national priority program.

In this book, leading scientists in the fields of sensory biology, neuroscience, physics and engineering explore the basic operational principles and behavioral uses of flow sensing in animals and how they might be applied to engineering applications such as autonomous control of underwater or aerial vehicles.

Although humans possess no flow-sensing abilities, countless aquatic (e.g. fish, cephalopods and seals), terrestrial (e.g. crickets and spiders) and aerial (e.g. bats) animals have flow sensing abilities that underlie remarkable behavioral feats. These include the ability to follow silent hydrodynamic trails long after the trailblazer has left the scene, to form hydrodynamic images of their environment in total darkness, and to swim or fly efficiently and effortlessly in the face of destabilizing currents and winds.

Gegenüber den Säugetieren werden Fische häufig unterschätzt und als weniger komplexe Organismen abgetan. Um diesen voreiligen Schluss zu entkräften, präsentiert Ihnen Horst Bleckmann die hochentwickelten kognitiven Fähigkeiten der Fische.

Wussten Sie z.B., dass Fische mit ca. 30.000 Arten die größte Gruppe aller Wirbeltiere stellen und alle aquatischen Lebensräume besiedeln? Für diese immense Leistung haben sie eine Vielzahl von hochspezialisierten Sinnessystemen und Verhaltensweisen entwickelt. Nach neueren Forschungen verfügen Fische zudem nicht nur über äußerst raffinierte Sinnesorgane, sondern auch über hochentwickelte Zentralnervensysteme, die in ihrer Grundstruktur ähnlich aufgebaut sind wie die Gehirne der Säuger.

Tauchen Sie in eine faszinierende Welt ein und lernen Sie alles über die verschiedenen Sinnessysteme der Fische kennen. Ein abschließendes Kapitel behandelt ergänzend die weltweite Bedrohung der Fische durch Gewässerverschmutzung, Querbauten in Fließgewässern und die Fischereiwirtschaft.

Compared to mammals, fish are often underestimated and dismissed as less complex organisms. To refute this hasty conclusion, Horst Bleckmann presents to you the highly developed cognitive abilities of fish.Did you know, for example, that fish are the largest group of all vertebrates, with about 30,000 species, and that they colonize all aquatic habitats? For this immense feat, they have evolved a variety of highly specialized sensory systems and behaviors. According to recent research, fish also possess not only extremely sophisticated sensory organs, but also highly developed central nervous systems that are similar in basic structure to the brains of mammals.Immerse yourself in a fascinating world and learn all about the different sensory systems of fish. A concluding chapter additionally covers the global threat to fish from water pollution, cross-building in flowing waters, and the fishing industry.