The Lateral Line

Like humans, most bony fish experience the world around them using the classic senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. However, fish have an additional sixth sense, something that is more sophisticated than touch, and it is called the lateral line. This line runs around the eyes and gills and extends to the tail along the sides of the fish, generally in the middle. If you look close enough at the fish above, you might be able to make out what looks like a white line—but which are actually pore openings to a canal that form the lateral line.

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