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Science 18 May 1984:
Vol. 224. no. 4650, pp. 751 - 753
DOI: 10.1126/science.224.4650.751
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Articles

A Candidate Magnetic Sense Organ in the Yellowfin Tuna, Thunnus albacares

MICHAEL M. WALKER 1, JOSEPH L. KIRSCHVINK 2, SHIH-BIN R. CHANG 2, and ANDREW E. DIZON 3

1 Southwest Fisheries Center Honolulu Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, Honolulu, Hawaii 96812, and Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822
2 Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 91125
3 Southwest Fisheries Center La Jolla Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, La Jolla, California 92038

Single-domain magnetite crystals have been isolated and characterized from tissue located in a sinus within the dermethmoid bone of the skull of the yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares. Their chemical composition, narrow size distribution, and distinctive crystal morphology indicate that these crystals are biochemical precipitates. Experiments on the interaction between particles reveal the organization of the particles in situ and suggest a possible form for candidate magnetoreceptor organelles. The consistent localization of such particles with similar arrangement within the dermethmoids of this and other pelagic fishes suggests that the ethmoid region is a possible location for a vertebrate magnetic sense organ.

Submitted on August 8, 1983
Accepted on January 26, 1984


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