Study
Multisensory integration and behavioral plasticity in sharks from different ecological niches
Gardiner, Jayne M.; Atema, Jelle; Hueter, Robert E.; Motta, Philip J.
PLoS ONE, 2014
Three shark species from different ecological niches hunted live prey with smell, vision, the lateral line or electroreception selectively and reversibly blocked, and each phase of the hunt — detection, tracking, striking, capture — was scored separately on high-speed video.
- Studied in
- Carcharhinus plumbeus, Sphyrna tiburo, Ginglymostoma cirratum
- Sample size
- sharks of three species with senses selectively blocked during hunts
Each sense dominates a different phase, and the sequence differs by species. When one sense is removed the sharks compensate with another and still capture prey, though less efficiently — the hunt degrades rather than failing.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Shark hunting is a multisensory sequence with substantial behavioural plasticity, not a chain that breaks when one link is removed.
How NatureHQ reads it
The corrective this supplies is against single-sense storytelling. Popular accounts pick one sense — usually smell — and make it the whole animal. What the blocking experiments show is a relay: smell orients from a distance, the lateral line and vision take over as range closes, electroreception guides the final strike, and any of them can cover for another. It also explains why a shark with a blocked sense is not a helpless shark.
- Captive animals in tanks, hunting prey they did not have to find over distance.
- Sensory blocking is imperfect and may have side effects beyond the target sense.
- Three species; sharks are ecologically diverse and the sequence varies.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Public Library of SciencePublished in a PLOS journal under CC BY 4.0.
doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093036
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-09.