noun
definition
A small particle, comprised mainly of calcium carbonate, found in the inner ear of vertebrates, being part of the balance sense.
synonyms
Examples of otoliths in a Sentence
By means of vibrations or shocks transmitted through the - Sub water, or by displacements in the balance or position of the animal, the otoliths are caused to impinge against the bristles of the sensory cells, now on one side, now on the other, causing shocks or stimuli which are transmitted by the basal nerve-fibre to the central nervous system.
At the fundus are placed the concrement-cells with their conspicuous otoliths (con) and the inconspicuous auditory cells, which are connected with the subumbral nerve - ring.
Medusae with sense-organs represented by otocysts derived from modified tentacles (tentaculocysts), containing otoliths of endodermal origin, and innervated from the ex-umbral nerve-ring.
Organs of hearing in the form of capsules containing otoliths have only been very rarely observed, apparently only in Metanemertini.
At the apex of the rhopalium the endoderm is greatly thickened and consists of concrementcells secreting otoliths (Con).
In Aurelia there are found numerous otoliths arranged irregularly.
In the former case it contains numerous grains of sand which are introduced by the animal itself after each moult and which are supposed to act as otoliths.
You can extract more large otoliths from the head of an adult fish, but they are not transparent and often have irregular shapes.
Continuous line laser ablation was used on sectioned otoliths of C. rupestris from four sites in the Atlantic.
High densities of fish otoliths have been found in one North Sea pockmark.