Hair bundles of different lengths found on squid skin — ScienceAlert

Researchers have found that the body surface of the longfin inshore squid Doryteuthis pealeii is covered with hair cells bearing bundles of fine projections. These structures are similar to the hair cells of the human inner ear, which detect fluid movement and transmit signals to the brain. ScienceAlert reports on the results of the study, published in the journal Current Biology.

Different structures on the body surface

A team that included otolaryngologist Brian McDermott of Case Western Reserve University examined the bodies of several newly hatched squid using light-sheet microscopy. The method made it possible to visualize hair cells on the animals' surfaces.

Scientists recorded two arrangements of hair bundles: previously described linear rows and broad areas that the authors called lateral line fields. The length of the bundles varied depending on their location on the body. In particular, they were shorter on the squid's mantle than in the lateral line areas on the head.

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Detecting water movement

The study's authors suggest that the differing arrangement and length of hair bundles may help squid detect certain types of local water movement. Such movements may carry information about prey, currents, or distant disturbances in the aquatic environment.

In humans, hair cells are found in the cochlea of the inner ear. Sound waves create fluid vibrations in this organ, which move the hair bundles, and the cells convert this movement into signals for the brain.

According to McDermott, damage to hair bundles is often associated with congenital hearing loss or hearing loss in people who previously had hearing. He believes that studying such bundles in squid may help better understand the mechanisms of hearing and the development of hearing disorders in humans.