Dataset for the Article: Flow Impairs Multisensory Tracking and Increases Active Sensing in Weakly Electric Fish

We tested the weakly electric knifefish Apteronotus albifrons (N = 4) tracking a moving refuge in a recirculating flow tunnel while systematically varying flow speed (0–16 cm/s), illumination (light vs. dark), and refuge structure (windowed vs. nonwindowed).

Tracking performance was quantified with time- and frequency-domain measures (root-mean-square error; gain–phase analyses), and active sensing as movement power outside stimulus frequencies (mean active sensing power, MASP). Increasing flow degraded tracking: relative to still water, RMSE rose by ~46% at 16 cm/s. Deficits were largest in darkness and with the windowed refuge, and were concentrated at low stimulus frequencies.