@article{49f3acebd8e9445980858b00ab52f14a,
title = "Knowing when to stick: Touch receptors found in the remora adhesive disc",
abstract = "Remoras are fishes that piggyback onto larger marine fauna via an adhesive disc to increase locomotor efficiency, likelihood of finding mates and access to prey. Attaching rapidly to a large, fast-moving host is no easy task, and while research to date has focused on how the disc supports adhesion, no attention has been paid to how or if remoras are able to sense attachment. We identified push-rod-like mechanoreceptor complexes embedded in the soft lip of the remora adhesive disc that are known in other organisms to respond to touch and shear forces. This is, to our knowledge, the first time such mechanoreceptor complexes are described in fishes as they were only known previously in monotremes. The presence of push-rod-like mechanoreceptor complexes suggests not only that fishes may be able to sense their environment in ways not heretofore described but that specialized tactile mechanoreceptor complexes may be a more basal vertebrate feature than previously thought.",
keywords = "Adhesive disc, Attachment, Mechanoreceptor, Remora, Touch",
author = "Cohen, {Karly E.} and Flammang, {Brooke E.} and Crawford, {Callie H.} and {Patricia Hernandez}, L.",
note = "Funding Information: This work was possible thanks to funding from a FY18 faculty seed grant award from NJIT to B.E.F. Special thanks to Flammang laboratory members for fish care, Adam P. Summers and the Karel F. Liem Bioimaging Center for access to imaging and sectioning facilities, funding for microtomes and section materials from the Seaver Institute to Adam P. Summers, and to Kayla Hall for making the microscope camera work at a clutch moment. Dr Ian Malcom, University of Texas Austin, provided helpful commentary. Funding Information: Ethics. All study animals were handled humanely and ethically following New Jersey Institute of Technology/Rutgers University IACUC protocol 17058-A0-R1. Data accessibility. Dryad digital repository link: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.t9d744k [44]. Authors{\textquoteright} contributions. K.E.C. participated in the design of the study, carried out the histological work, participated in data analysis, and helped draft and revise the manuscript; B.E.F. conceived of the study, participated in the design of the study, coordinated the study, participated in data analysis, prepared the figures, and helped draft and revise the manuscript; C.H.C. conducted the μCT scanning and helped revise the manuscript; L.P.H. participated in the design of the study, assisted with histological work, participated in data analysis and helped edit the manuscript. All authors gave final approval for publication. Competing interests. The authors declare no financial or non-financial competing interests. At the time of consideration of this manuscript, Prof. Brooke Flammang was a member of the Royal Society Open Science editorial board but had no involvement in the review or assessment of the paper. Funding. This work was possible thanks to funding from a FY18 faculty seed grant award from NJIT to B.E.F. Acknowledgements. Special thanks to Flammang laboratory members for fish care, Adam P. Summers and the Karel F. Liem Bioimaging Center for access to imaging and sectioning facilities, funding for microtomes and section materials from the Seaver Institute to Adam P. Summers, and to Kayla Hall for making the microscope camera work at a clutch moment. Dr Ian Malcom, University of Texas Austin, provided helpful commentary. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.",
year = "2020",
month = jan,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1098/rsos.190990",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "7",
journal = "Royal Society Open Science",
issn = "2054-5703",
publisher = "The Royal Society",
number = "1",
}