Hair cell
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Hair cells are the sensory receptors of both the auditory system and the vestibular system in the ears of all vertebrates, and in the lateral line organ of fishes. Through mechanotransduction, hair cells detect movement in their environment.
Stereocilia of frog inner ear
Lateral line
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The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial cells, known as hair cells, which respond to displacement caused by motion and transduce these signals into electrical impulses via excitatory synapses. Lateral lines play an important role in schooling behavior, predation, and orientation.
Oblique view of a goldfish (Carassius auratus), showing pored scales of the lateral line system
The lateral line system consists of canals that run along a fish's body, connecting rows of openings (pores) through the skin and scales to the water outside the body. Small sense organs, neuromasts (inset), are positioned both at intervals along the canals, and on the surface of the body. Each hair cell contains a bundle of sensory hairs.