The sensory biology and behavior of the detection of small polar electric fields by elasmobranchs during feeding and mating is well known. In contrast, only a few theoretical models exist for the use of the electrosense to detect geomagnetically induced electric fields and only one experimental study. This research will determine how the brain encodes and processes electrosensory information as it relates to geomagnetic induction in the elasmobranch by study of the peripheral organization of the electrosense, neurophysiology of the peripheral and central nervous system, central neuroanatomy and experimental behavioral analyses in the laboratory and field.
