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Updated: Apr 28, 2026

The Identification of Sea Lamprey Pheromones Using Bioassay-Guided Fractionation
Published on: July 17, 2018
Marine teleost locates live prey through pH sensing
John Caprio1, Mami Shimohara2, Takayuki Marui3
1Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. jcap@lsu.edu.
Abstract:
We report that the Japanese sea catfish Plotosus japonicus senses local pH-associated increases in H(+)/CO2 equating to a decrease of ≤0.1 pH unit in ambient seawater. We demonstrated that these sensors, located on the external body of the fish, detect undamaged cryptic respiring prey, such as polychaete worms. Sensitivity is maximal at the natural pH of seawater (pH 8.1 to 8.2) and decreases dramatically in seawater with a pH <8.0.
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