Lateral Line

The lateral line is a mechanosensory system comprising a series of pores and sub-epidermal canals containing neuromasts (hair-cell receptors). It runs from behind the operculum to the base of the caudal fin along each flank, and also across the head. It detects water displacements caused by nearby objects, prey, predators, and conspecifics. Together with the inner ear it forms the acoustico-lateralis system. Lateral line pore counts are important in species identification.

Blind cavefish retain a highly developed lateral line that allows them to detect obstacles and prey in total darkness.

Lateral line scale counts (e.g. LL = 47–52) are standard diagnostic characters in species descriptions.