The rostral organ of the

coelacanth The coelacanths ( ) are fish belonging to the order Actinistia that includes two extant species in the genus ''Latimeria'': the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (''Latimeria chalumnae''), primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast ...

or similar in many other fish such as

Anchovy An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...

is a large gel-filled cavity in the snout, with three pairs of canals to the outside. It is surrounded by an insulating layer of

adipose tissue Adipose tissue, body fat, or simply fat is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes. In addition to adipocytes, adipose tissue contains the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, vascular e ...

and innervated by the superficial

ophthalmic nerve The ophthalmic nerve (V1) is a sensory nerve of the face. It is one of three divisions of the trigeminal nerve (CN V). It has three branches that provide sensory innervation to the eye, the skin of the upper face, and the skin of the anterior sc ...

. Its anatomy and innervation suggest it is an electroreceptive organ used for finding prey in the dark. This is supported by experiments which showed that coelacanths react to electrical fields produced by a submersible.

References

Sensory organs in animals Fish anatomy {{Vertebrate anatomy-stub