Magnetic orientation in fish (Nav03+)

• Subject Area: Sensory and Behavioural Biology
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 395940726

To achieve a comprehensive understanding of magnetoreception and vertebrate navigation, it is important that hypotheses generated from biophysics, molecular biology, and/or neurobiology can be tested and validated at the behavioural level and vice versa. Furthermore, it is to essential to evaluate whether mechanisms found in one class of vertebrates are also used in other classes of vertebrates. In this project we aim to understand whether dispersing fish larvae imprint on magnetic signals during hatching and use these cues to find back to natal sites. We will determine sensitivity thresholds of magnetic signals that can be experienced by fish. Finally, we apply these results to a field study to understand orientation mechanisms and sensory capabilities in coral reef fish under natural conditions.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1372: Magnetoreception and navigation in vertebrates: from biophysics to brain and behaviour
• Applicant Institution: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Gabriele Gerlach; Professor Dr. Henrik Mouritsen, until 12/2022; Professor Dr. Michael Winklhofer, until 12/2022