Animals and Sound in the Sea

Marine Animal Use of Sound

How do fish communicate using sound?

For "communication" to occur, a signal must be made by one or more individuals and received and interpreted by one or more recipients. Among the many ways of communicating in aquatic environments, sound is perhaps the most effective, especially over long distances (see Why is sound important to marine animals?). Light is rapidly absorbed in water, limiting the use of visual communication. Even in the clearest water, most light is absorbed within tens of meters and it is even more limited in turbid coastal waters. Chemical cues are effective at short distances but chemical particles travel much more slowly in water than in air. Sound however travels very rapidly underwater (about 1,500 m/s) and much farther than in air. This is especially true for lower frequency sounds that are typically used by fishes for communication.

Sounds intentionally produced by fishes for communication are generally associated with either stressful situations or reproduction. Stressful situations that may elicit sounds include defense, aggression, or territorial advertisement. For example, damselfish are very territorial and use sound as a way to protect their area from intruders. When a threat or possibility of a threat exists, fishes produce sounds as spontaneous outbursts.

Damselfish are very territorial and use sound as a way to protect their area from intruders. Photo courtesy of Prof. Brad Rence, Department of Biology, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI 54912, http://www.lawrence.edu/dept/biology/biol_81a/marine.html

Reproductive activity, including courtship and spawning, accounts for the majority of sounds produced by fishes. As is typical of many sound-producing animals, it is usually the male that produces sound to try to spawn with a receptive female. Many fish species that produce sound are nocturnal broadcast spawners, such as the Sciaenids - a family renowned for their sound producing ability. During the spawning season, these species form large groups each evening that vocalize for many hours. These vocalizations often dominate the acoustic environment in which they occur. Other species such as the oyster toadfish are nest builders rather than broadcast spawners. After building a suitable nest, the male will produce courtship calls to attract potential mates.

The male oyster toadfish produces sound to attract females. Photo courtesy of Grays Reef Sanctuary, http://graysreef.nos.noaa.gov

    References
  • Evans, H. D. 1998. The Physiology of Fishes, Second Edition. CRC Press, New York.
  • Gilmore, R.G., Jr. 2003. Sound production and communication in the spotted seatrout. Pages 177-195. in S. Bortone, editor. Biology of the Spotted Seatrout. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.
  • Rountree, R.C., Goudey, C. , Hawkins, T., Luczkovich, J.J. and Mann, D.A. 2002. Proceedings of Listening to fish: An international workshop on the applications of passive acoustic applications in marine fisheries. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant. Cambridge, Massachusetts. (http://web.mit.edu/seagrant/aqua/cfer/acoustics/frontpiece.html)
  • Tavolga, W. N. 1977. Sound production in fishes. Benchmark Papers in Animal Behavior V.9. Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc.
  • Zelick, R., Mann, D.A. and Popper, A.N. 1999. Acoustic Communication in Fishes and Frogs Pages 363-411 In: Popper, A.P. and Fay (eds.) Comparative Hearing: Fish and Amphibians. Springer, New York.
For more information on how other marine animals communicate using sound, use the following links:

Marine Mammals
Fish
Invertebrates

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