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What role do Mauthner cells play in the escape swimming of bony fishes?
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Avoidance behaviour
Cat fleeing by upward climbing.
In the context of avoidance behaviour, Mauthner cells serve as specialized neural structures in bony fishes that initiate escape swimming when the animal is stimulated by a potential threat.1
These cells function as part of a rapid locomotor reflex, allowing the fish to execute an explosive, sudden movement to evade predators. By facilitating this immediate response, Mauthner cells help the fish overcome the time delay inherent in slower neural processing, effectively enabling the animal to escape before a predator can successfully localize or capture it.1