The Glass Knifefish (Eigenmannia virescens) is a weakly electric fish found in freshwater habitats of Central and South America.
Using a specialized electric organ, the fish generate high-frequency electric signals to sense their surroundings. When multiple fish have similar signal frequencies, they decide to shift their frequency up or down, away from their neighbour’s frequency, to avoid interference, in a jamming avoidance response. Fish use modulations in their combined signals to guide this decision. In a new study, researchers found that swimming movement can result in similar signal modulations that reduces decision accuracy when signals are strong (fish are close) but surprisingly improves accuracy when signals are weak. This counterintuitive effect of noise may increase detectability of distant conspecifics.
Read the article in Biology Letters:
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0632
Image credit: Clinton & Charles Robertson
