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Electric Discharges in African Upside-Down Catfishes Synodontis (Mochokidae, Siluriformes): Peculiarities and Mechanisms of Electrogeneration

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Abstract

The patterns of electric discharges were studied in two species of upside-down catfishes, Synodontis clarias and S. membranaceus. In S. clarias, constant generation of weak electrical pulses with a relatively stable frequency (~30 s–1) and an amplitude reaching 200 μV was found. In representatives of both species, both relatively short two-phase discharges of two types, differing in the total duration and ratio of positive and negative phases, and long-term impulses of various shapes with characteristic frontal irregularities were recorded at aggressive-defensive behavior in pairs of specimens. In S. membranaceus, short biphasic discharges of both the first and second types were recorded. Using a simple computer model, an attempt was made to reconstruct the process of the formation of long-term electric discharges from short elementary pulses.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to the coordinator of the Joint Russian-Ethiopian Biological Expedition A.A. Darkov (Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences) for his assistance in organizing the field studies, A.S. Golubtsov (Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences) for species identification, D.E. Elyashev (Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences) for software development, B.A. Levin (Institute of Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences) and S.E. Cherenkov (Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences) for the help in sampling the materials, as well as to A.O. Kasumyan (Moscow State University) for the valuable critical remarks during the preparation of the manuscript.

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  1. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    V. D. Baron & A. A. Orlov

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  1. V. D. Baron
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  2. A. A. Orlov
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Correspondence to V. D. Baron.

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Translated by D. Pavlov

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Baron, V.D., Orlov, A.A. Electric Discharges in African Upside-Down Catfishes Synodontis (Mochokidae, Siluriformes): Peculiarities and Mechanisms of Electrogeneration. J. Ichthyol. 61, 293–298 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945221020016

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