Underwater Chatter: Untold Secrets Revealed! Fish aren't mere silent swimmers; they engage in vocal communication as well!
In a groundbreaking study conducted at Cornell University, researchers have delved into the evolutionary history of sound communication in fish, a modality that plays a crucial role in their social interactions and survival strategies underwater. The study, titled "Evolutionary Patterns in Sound Production Across Fishes," was led by Aaron Rice, a researcher at Cornell's Laboratory of Ornithology and K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, and was published in the journal Ichthyology and Herpetology.
Aaron Rice, who has been tracking fish sounds for twenty years, was joined by fellow researchers Ingrid Kaatz, Philip Lobel from Boston University, and Prof. Andrew Bass from Cornell's Department of Neurobiology and Behavior in this extensive project. The study focused on 175 families of fish that either produce or have the potential to produce sounds.
The researchers used a variety of resources for their investigation, including existing sound recordings, scientific papers detailing fish anatomy and its relation to sound production, references from 19th-century literature, and underwater microphones invented before their time.
The study revealed that the significance of sound and its evolution occurred at least 33 times in these fish families. Fish use sounds for various purposes, including attracting mates, locating food sources, defending territories, and informing others of their presence.
One of the key findings of the study is the role of sound in reproductive coordination. Fish often produce repetitive, rhythmic calls during spawning seasons, a behaviour known as chorusing, which helps attract mates and synchronize spawning over large areas underwater.
Sound also plays a crucial role in species coexistence and resource partitioning. Different species often utilize distinct sound frequencies to partition the soundscape, avoiding acoustic interference while sharing habitats.
Social interactions, such as feeding, aggression, and courtship, are also communicated through various sounds produced by skeletal movements or specialized organs like the swim bladder. For example, grunting (by grinding teeth) or clicking sounds are common.
Sound signals can also alert others to predators or maintain schooling behavior, important for survival.
The study also shed light on the topics fish commonly "discuss" through sound. These typically include mating and spawning cues, territorial claims and dominance, distress or threat warnings, and feeding-related communication.
Although there is evidence that different fish species may have evolved alternative communication modalities, such as electric discharges, sound remains prevalent especially in teleost fishes.
In summary, sound communication in fish is an evolutionarily important modality enabling complex social interactions that support reproductive success, ecological coexistence, and survival strategies underwater. The principal "topics" conveyed acoustically concern reproduction, territoriality, threat signaling, and feeding.
William E. Bernis, a co-author and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, explained the findings of the study, highlighting its significance in understanding the complex underwater world of fish. The project to create a fish sound database, initiated twenty years ago, continues to grow under the leadership of Aaron Rice and his team.
Science reveals the significance of sound in fish communications, with repeated evolutionary patterns uncovered in 175 families of fish. Environmental-science research highlights the crucial role of sound in reproductive coordination, species coexistence, and survival strategies, with sound signals conveying themes of reproduction, territoriality, threat signaling, and feeding. Technology, including underwater microphones and sound recordings, aids in the ongoing study of fish sound communication, with the project to create a fish sound database expanding through time under the guidance of Aaron Rice and his team.
