different for different species. Some species may only be able to detect north and south, while others may only be able to differentiate between the equator and the poles. Although the ability to sense direction is important in migratory navigation, many animals have the ability to sense small fluctuations in earth's magnetic field to map their position to within a few kilometers. Taxonomic range Magnetoreception is widely-distributed taxonomically. It is present in many of the animals so far investigated. These include arthropods, molluscs, and among vertebrates in fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Its status in other groups remains unknown. The ability to detect and respond to magnetic fields may exist in plants, possibly as in animals mediated by cryptochrome. Experiments by different scientists have identified multiple effects, including changes to growth rate, seed germination, mitochondrial structure, and responses to gravity (geotropism). The results have sometimes been controversial, and no mechanism has been definitely identified. The ability may be widely distributed, but its taxonomic range in plants is unknown. In molluscs The giant sea slug Tochuina gigantea (formerly T. tetraquetra), a mollusc, orients its body between north and east prior to a full moon. A 1991 experiment offered a right turn to geomagnetic south and a left turn to geomagnetic east (a Y-shaped maze). 80% of Tochuina made a turn to magnetic east. When the field was reversed, the animals displayed no preference for either turn. Tochuinas nervous system is composed of individually identifiable neurons, four of which are stimulated by changes in the applied magnetic field, and two which are inhibited by such changes. The tracks of the similar species Tritonia exsulans become more variable in direction when close to strong rare-earth magnets placed in their natural habitat, suggesting that the animal uses its magnetic sense continuously to help it travel in a straight line. In insects The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster may be able to orient to magnetic fields. In one choice test, flies were loaded into an apparatus with two arms that were surrounded by electric coils. Current was run through each of the coils, but only one was configured to produce a 5-Gauss magnetic field (about ten times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field) at a time. The flies were trained to associate the magnetic field with a sucrose reward. Flies with an altered cryptochrome, such as with an antisense mutation, were not sensitive to magnetic