In the creation of the fish, God showed a great deal of innovation in giving them amazing abilities. The fish that we will look at in this article is the elephant-nose fish, which has a unique ability to detect electrical fields that are very faint and even use those fields for talking. Let’s look at this amazing fish.
The elephant-nose fish (or more properly the freshwater elephant-nose fish), are freshwater fish native to Africa. It is a large family with around 200 members in the species. These fish are also known for having a large brain size and unusually high intelligence that seems to give it special talents. The elephant-nose fish is a diverse family, with a wide range of different sizes and shapes. The smallest adults of this group are just 2 inches in length while the largest reach up to almost 5 feet long.
All of them do, however, have a number of unique features in common. First, the cerebellum is greatly enlarged, giving them a brain to body size ratio similar to that of people. This is likely to be related to the interpretation of bio-electrical signals that living things give off. Some of the species possess modifications of the mouthparts to facilitate feeding upon small invertebrates buried in muddy bottoms of streams. The shape and structure of these mouthparts are part of what leads to the popular name of elephant-nose fish. The extensions to the mouthparts usually consist of a fleshy elongation attached to the lower jaw. They are flexible, equipped with touch and possibly taste sensors. Their mouths are non-movable, and their head (including the eyes) and belly are covered by a thin layer of skin that is perforated with small pores leading to electroreceptors. These receptors are electric organs and are able to generate weak electrical fields that allow the fish to sense their environment in muddy water and even in total darkness.
All electric fish in the world can be classified into two types: pulse fish or wave fish. Pulse-type discharges are characterized by long intervals between the electrical discharges, whereas wave-type discharges occur when the interval between consecutive pulses is so brief that the discharges fuse together to form a wave. The elephant-nose fish finds its bearings by means of weak electrical fields. Scientists from the University of Bonn have now been able to show how well this works. In complete darkness, the animals can even distinguish the material of objects at a distance or dead organisms from living ones. Yet, its characteristically shaped chin does not work like a particularly sensitive nose. Instead, it contains more than 500 electrical sensors with which it senses its surroundings. The chin of an elephant-nose fish is basically its eye and its tail is the corresponding flashlight. In specially adapted muscle cells, it produces regular electrical pulses of a few volts. At 80 times per second, the fish switches this little battery on and off. “At the same time it measures the electrical field which builds up around it via sensors in the skin,” explains Professor von der Emde. Nearby objects distort the field so that the fish obtains an image of its surroundings, which is a surprisingly complex image. It can use these senses to distinguish living things from dying or dead organisms without touching them. The electrical field image even tells it what material of which the object in question is made. The image will appear very bright for metal and duller for non-conductors, and it can even measure distances to a precision of several millimeters.
However, the elephant fish has perhaps one of the most unusual methods to communicate using this electricity. As the elephant-nose fish uses electroreception to sense its environment, it can also generate an electrical charge and uses it like sonar to find its way around and communicate. Each of these fish produce a different current electrical field. They can all feel each other’s currents to be able to tell who is around them. They can also determine sex and social status—all with this electricity. The males will also serenade females with lower frequency humming. It’s a fish that sings an electrical song.
So, indeed, God has marvelously created the elephant-nose fish to show His power and majesty. May we ever praise Him for what He has done in the world around us.
