The polarization of inner ear ciliary bundles from a scorpaeniform fish

The polarization of ultrastructural ciliary bundles from hair cells in the inner ear of the sea scorpion Taurulus bubalis was studied using a scanning electron microscope, revealing arrays of ciliary bundles with diverse orientations on each of the sensory epithelia. Members of this order are known to produce sound, though results of this study show no significant variation from the standard receptor patterns found in the hearing system of many silent marine teleosts. This is the first time that the ultrastructure of T. bubalis has been studied, and this work presents a new set of polarization patterns, which provide anatomical information important in understanding electrophysiological aspects of fish hearing from an ecological perspective.