Sharks use a gel to feel cold

2003/01/30 Carton Virto, Eider - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Biologia
• Zoologia

Sharks are very sensitive to temperature, they are probably the most sensitive living things that are known, and they seem to be in the room where they have the key. By heating the room in the laboratory, researchers find that it also responds to the temperature change of 0.1 °C. This means that sharks are able to accurately detect the water temperature and, therefore, to eat.

In fact, at the limits between water masses at different temperatures, large fish fronts are usually concentrated, and sharks are experts in their detection. The researchers consider that the ability is possible thanks to the high sensitivity of the classroom. Chemically, however, the room is not so special, as it is similar to normal gelatin. It has very different electrical properties.

For the moment, it has been detected the stay in sharks, fish and cats, but it is believed that there can also be other marine animals.

Mammals, for their part, use specific structures in cell membranes to measure temperature. These structures are called ion channels, where the electric current is also generated, but not because there is room, but because the ions pass. The sharks, on the other hand, do not use channels but their room in the superficial pores.

The study was presented today by the journal Nature.