About This Project
We are studying the morphology of ampullae of Lorenzini in sharks and fish native to various environments. These electroreceptive organs allow for multiple functions like prey detection and geomagnetic orientation. Fish native to various salinities possess sense organs of differing shapes and structures. The bull shark, an omnihaline shark, possesses a sense organ unique to elasmobranchs and we aim to detail intra-specific variations of this shark native to differing habitats around the world.
Ask the Scientists
Join The DiscussionWhat is the context of this research?
The structure of electroreceptive organs varies between species and within a single species native to varying habitats. As we have revealed in catfish on the Arridae family some species possess microampulla, less than 250 micrometers to over 5 centimeters (Whitehead et al. 2000; Whitehead et al. 2015)Whitehead references These finding and the description of a unique ampullae of Lorenzini in freshwater juvenile bull sharks encourages us to survey other species and environmental habitats to define the full array of these sense organs in fishes.
What is the significance of this project?
Electroreception is used by sharks in prey capture, mate selection, and geomagnetic orientation. Yet, limited data exists on how ampullary organs adapt to changing environments in species that move between freshwater and marine habitats, such as the bull shark. Our work aims to shows that bull sharks have ampullae specialized to their current habitat. We aim to use sharks captured in the SCPs of Queensland and Reunion Island in our research and broaden the understanding of their biology. Previous cooperative work between the SCP and my team have produced three scientific articles, popular articles and television documentaries. Allowing us to share the scientific work with the greater community.
What are the goals of the project?
Ampullae of Lorenzini in bull sharks appear to be specifically adapted to its current environment (marine, freshwater); this is supported by our work on locally captured specimens. Yet this element remains to be confirmed with comparisons with fish native to obligate marine locales and habitats. A detailed examination of ampullary organs from bull sharks captured around Reunion Island, with limited access to freshwater, aims to reveal significant differences when compared those those studied in southeast Queensland, Australia, with easy access to freshwater and marine habitats, where they are documented to swim between regularly. Conversely is their ampullae adapted in order to function best in both environments?
Budget
The budgeted items will contribute to existing funds within our research facility. We provide the full cost of tissues processing, microscopy, and electron microscopy within the facility. We require collection and remote field cost to be covered. Currently we collect samples from cooperative state and national Shark Control Programs (SCP). The described funds will cover additional sample collection from remote locales and specifically remote island collections, thus limiting direct freshwater exposure. This will ideally define the histological structure of these sense organs native to marine habitats. Reunion island was selected for this due to a native of the island nation working on this project within our team. Other collection cost cover the local transportation in order to collect samples from the state and federal SCP.
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Meet the Team
Affiliates
Team Bio
Our team is comprised of students from three countries all brought together with an interest in the bull sharks of the world. Dr Whitehead supervises students from Reunion Island, Japan, and Australia. We have a shared history of studies in Australia, The United States of America, South Africa, Germany, and other countries throughout the world. His strong interest and dedicated focus into the sensory biology of sharks continues to attract future students to his laboratory.
Dr. Darryl Whitehead
During my Bachelor of Science at The University or West Florida I studied the marine science with a primary focus in ichthyology. This lead to international studies of with a primary focus on the sense of electroreception. In 2002, I obtained a Doctor of Philosophy at the Centre for Marine Studies within The University of Queensland while working on a project entitled ‘Biological Electrical Field Sensors’ for the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO). This project and additional research with the Australian DSTO focused on electroreception and passive electrical fields within coastal waterways and the ampullae of Lorenzini in elasmobranchs and catfish that allow fish to detect and use these electrical fields in various ways. Currently, I work as a Research Manager and cooridinate operations of the Facility of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Histology Facility and co-supervisie a number of post graduate research scientists with a primary focus on electroreception and the ampullae of Lorenzini.
Lab Notes
Nothing posted yet.
Additional Information
Donated shark from the Queensland SCP measured and used for multiple research projects leading to scientific articles.
Video details the confocal microscopy images of the ampullae of Lorenzini obtained from the sharks received through the SCP donations.
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