Electroreception

Do you see the black dots on the Tiger Shark’s head? These structures are electroreceptors called Ampullae of Lorenzini. The pores are filled with jelly, connected to specialized cells that detect weak electric fields, cardiac or muscular electrical signals. Many marine animals, including fish and invertebrates, produce weak electrical fields as a result of their physiological activities, such as muscle contractions and nerve impulses. Sharks, rays, skates and chimaeras possess Lorenzini organs allowing them to hunt by detecting hidden, stressed or injured prey, the presence of animals in the vicinity and navigate through the oceans using Earth’s magnetic field.