Fish can encode order in their spatial map.

Animals must often orient through areas that are larger than their perceptual range. The blind Mexican cave fish, Astyanax fasciatus, depends on detecting self-induced near-field wave perturbations by objects via the use of its lateral line organ. Its perceptual range (less than or equal to 0.05 m) is greatly exceeded by its ecological ranging requirements (ca. 30 m). Although known to possess a spatial map of its environment, it is not known how this fish links places (or the area over which the perceptual range extends) together. Using the blind cave fish's propensity to accelerate when faced with objects or environments that are recognizably different, I used a behavioural assay to test whether fishes can learn and remember the order of a landmark sequence. I show, to my knowledge for the first time, that blind Mexican cave fish can encode order in their spatial map. The ability to represent the order in which a series of places are spatially linked is a powerful tool for animals that must orient beyond the limit of their perceptual range. The resulting spatial map would be analogous to a jigsaw puzzle, where each piece represents a place whose size is constrained by the animal's perceptual range.

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