Organ that consists of receptor cells located within an epidermal invagination and functions as an electroreceptor.
Comment:
[taxon-note] "The presence of these organs varies greatly among anamniotes, but an out-group analysis of their distribution in adult anamniotes suggests that they were present in primitive vertebrates and retained in living lampreys, cartilaginous fishes, lobe-finned fishes and basal ray-finned fishes (bichirs, sturgeons and paddlefishes). Ampullary organs do not occur in gars and bowfins, two of the three groups of neopterygian fishes, nor are they found in most teleost fishes, but they do appear to have re-evolved at least twice (and more likely three or more times) in five groups of teleosts (Northcutt, 1997).[http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/content/42/4/743]"
Synonyms:
exact_synonym:
ampullary electroreceptor; ampullary electroreceptor organ; electrosensory ampullary organ