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It is hard to imagine what senses fish have without already knowing. We believe that all mammals have the same senses as us; sound, sight, smell, touch, and taste.

Fish have the same five senses as land mammals: sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. Another sense fish have called the lateral line, which allows them to detect water vibrations and movement around them. Some fish can also see electrical fields.

With birds, we know that they can see, make sounds, and therefore can hear. However, fish are almost alien to us. Living below the water, they are entirely different from mammals that live on land.

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Sight

Fish generally have large, bulging eyes that lack eyelids like a mammal. Fish are vertebrates, and their eyes resemble all other animals with a backbone. The look is sphere-shaped with a protective cover. Fish have an iris that surrounds the complex lens of the eye. The eye’s retina is at the back and composed of light-sensitive nerve cells.

Whereas the human lens is oval-shaped, the lens of a fish is a sphere. The lens is clear and positioned close to the outer of the eye. This allows the fish to send undistorted images to the retina.

Fish can’t see long distances, but they can move the eye’s lens by using particular muscles if it needs to see something close. This allows them to see in focus close up.

Like many other animals, the retina is full of cells called cones. The cones are used to see bright lights and colors. Due to cones’ presence in the retina, fish are believed to be able to see in color.

However, this is not true for all fish, as deep-sea or nocturnal fish do not need to see in color. This is especially true for fish sticking to the ocean’s bottom.

Fish can also see in different directions using each eye. A trout can catch an insect while on the surface while looking out for predators with the other vision.

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Smell and Taste

Unlike mammals, fish have four nostrils on each side of their head. Fish do not breathe the same way as mammals, and the nostrils are not used to live.

The two pairs of nostrils on each side of the nose lead to nasal sacs filled with sensory organs. Fish have an excellent sense of smell, with some detecting one-thousandth of a gram of crushed worm in 58 million gallons of water.

The taste in fish comes from cells found on the lips, the mouth, the barrels, and on some fish, the lower head and fins.

Some fish, such as carp, taste their food by touching it with their barbels and don’t even need to put the food into their mouth to know if it is edible.

The sense of taste plays a huge part in finding food. Many fish brush the sand using their barbels and fins, constantly searching for food.

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Hearing

Although we think of the sea as quiet, it rarely is. Although we do not hear fish, they do use sound. Some grind their teeth to communicate or blow bubbles from their bladder. Some even make grunting or groaning noises using their swim bladders. These sounds are amplified using specific muscles.

Carp can amplify their hearing by using a bony connection between their inner ear and swim bladders. This helps them to hear better. As there can be hundreds or thousands of fish, they are surrounded by sound as they move. This is caused by the movement of the fish, moving their muscles and fins.

Some fish, such as haddock, make noise as they move around in a school on the sea bed. Haddock makes grumbling and drumming noises as they move around.

Schools can keep together using sound even if they cannot see. Schools can still swim in dark parts of the sea using their hearing and communicate with each other about predators or food.

Lateral Line

Fish have a line of pores that open onto the scales on the side of the body. This is called the lateral line and is seen in most fish species. The lateral line is a sophisticated sense that is difficult for us to understand.

The lines that we see on the fish’s side have openings. These lead into a canal with sensory cells that can detect changes in water pressure. The pressure changes can be detected when a school changes its direction, caused by the shape change in their bodies.

When the school reaches an obstruction or a predator, the pressure changes, allowing the school to change direction as if as one fish. The lateral line can be considered a radar system as it alerts the fish to movements around it in its immediate surroundings.

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Electrical Sensitivity

Some fish species, such as sharks, can detect the electrical charge made by other fish muscles. Sharks and other fish, such as skate, can see small electrical fields using a pore system on their undersides. This helps them to hunt other fish or animals.

Skate also produce their electrical field and can use this to recognize others of their species. Some species, such as electric eels or rays, can use these electrical charges also to stun prey.

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