Ghost knifefish make electric ‘chirps’ to spot where other fish are

It has long been thought that the electrical chirps of brown ghost knifefish are for communication, but they might instead help improve electrolocation

By Michael Le Page

It has long been assumed that when one brown ghost knifefish “chirps” at another knifefish by altering the electrical field it produces, it is communicating with the other fish. But it appears that these chirps may instead be a kind of probe that helps a fish improve its electrolocation of objects, especially other electric fish.

Weakly electric fish generate a low-power electric field around their body, which they sense with special receptors in their skin. This allows them to detect distortions in the electric field induced …