Passive acoustic studies of estuarine fish populations of southwest Florida (original) (raw)
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Large-scale passive acoustic monitoring of fish sound production on the West Florida Shelf
Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2013
Sounds from toadfish Opsanus sp., and 4 other suspected fish sounds were identified in passive acoustic recordings from fixed recorders and autonomous underwater vehicles in the eastern Gulf of Mexico between 2008 and 2011. Data were collected in depths ranging from 4 to 984 m covering approximately 39 000 km 2. The goals of this research were to map the spatial and temporal occurrence of these sounds. Sound production was correlated to environmental parameters (water depth, lunar cycle, and dawn and dusk) to understand the variability in seasonal calling. Toadfish 'boatwhistles' were recorded throughout the diel period, with peaks observed between 15:00 and 04:00 h. Annual peaks coincided with the spawning period in the late spring to early summer. The 4 unknown sounds were termed: '100 Hz Pulsing', '6 kHz Sound', '300 Hz FM Harmonic', and '365 Hz Harmonic'. The 100 Hz Pulsing had the temporal characteristics of a cusk-eel call with frequencies below 500 Hz. Sound production was observed mainly at night with annual peaks in the spring and fall. The 6 kHz Sound was observed exclusively at night between 15 and 50 m bottom depths; occurrence decreased significantly in the winter. The 6 kHz Sound peak frequencies correlated positively to satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) and nega tively to chlorophyll concentration. The 300 Hz FM Harmonic was observed largely (89%) at night and appeared offshore (40−200 m depth). The 365 Hz Harmonic was observed 98% of the time at night, inshore (< 40 m depth). The fundamental frequency of the 365 Hz Harmonic was positively correlated with SST, reflecting a temperature-driven increase in sonic muscle contraction rate; conversely, call duration was negatively correlated. The ubiquity of these 4 unknown sounds illustrates how little is known about biological communication in the marine environment.
Effects of Hurricane Charley on fish chorusing
Biology Letters, 2005
Hurricane Charley, a category 4 hurricane, passed through Charlotte Harbor, Florida, directly over an autonomous underwater acoustic datalogger used to record sound production by fishes associated with courtship and spawning. Acoustic recordings made on 9 days prior to the storm, during and 3 days after the storm provided unprecedented documentation of the hurricane's passage and its effect on fishes' calling behaviour. The hurricane did not inhibit nightly chorusing events of spawning fish. Sound levels produced by spawning fish on the night of and 3 days after the hurricane were higher and lasted longer than any of the 9 days recorded prior to the hurricane.
The impact of boat related noise on marine life is a subject of concern, particularly for fish species that utilize acoustic communication for spawning purposes. The goal of this study was to quantify and examine the risk of boat noise on fish acoustic communication by performing acoustic monitoring of the May River, South Carolina (USA) from February to November 2013 using DSG-Ocean recorders. The number of boats detected increased from the source to the mouth with the highest detections near the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Boat noise frequency ranges overlapped with courtship sounds of silver perch (Bairdiella chrysoura), black drum (Pogonias cromis), oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau), spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), and red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). In the May River estuary, red drum may experience the greatest risk of auditory masking because of late afternoon choruses (21% time overlap with boat noise) and only one spawning location near the noisy ICW.
Ecological Informatics, 2023
Many fish species use active sound production for communication in numerous behaviors. Additionally, likely all fish can make passive or incidental sounds that may also serve some signal functions. Despite the ecological importance of fish sounds, their evident passive acoustic monitoring applications, and extensive endeavors to document soniferous fish diversity, the fields of bioacoustics and ichthyology have historically lacked an easily accessible, global inventory of known fish sound production. To alleviate this limitation, we developed htt p://FishSounds.net, a website that compiles and disseminates fish sound production information and recordings. FishSounds Version 1.0 launched in 2021, cataloging documented examinations for active and passive sound production for 1185 fish species from 837 references as well as 239 exemplary audio recordings. Fish-Sounds allows users to search by taxa (e.g., family or common name), geographical distribution (e.g., region or water body), sound type, or reference. We have also made available the code used to create the website, so that it may be used in other data-sharing efforts-acoustic or otherwise. Subsequent versions of the website will update the data and improve the website functionality. FishSounds will advance research into fish behavior, passive acoustic monitoring, and human impacts on underwater soundscapes; serve as a resource for public outreach; and provide the foundation needed to investigate more of the 96% of fish species that lack published examinations of sound production. We further hope the FishSounds design, implementation, and engagement strategies will serve as a model for future data management and sharing efforts.
Acoustic behaviors in Hawaiian coral reef fish communities
Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2014
Coral reef fish communities often include hundreds of sympatric species which are of great interest to reef conservation and fisheries managers. Longterm acoustic monitoring of fish sounds can be used to infer periodic reproductive activity and changes in population abundance. However, limited records of sound production by coral reef species have precluded the application of acoustic monitoring at the population or community levels. We used rebreather and digital acoustic/ video techniques to produce a sound library for fishes on coral reefs of west Hawai'i Island, HI, USA. We documented 85 sounds produced by 45 (47%) of the 96 resident species that were associated with agonistic interactions and resource defense, reproduction, nest defense, feeding, and vigilance behaviors. Most nonfeeding sounds consisted of single or trains of pulse events <100 ms long that were distributed across a spectrum of <100 to 1000 Hz with the majority of peak frequencies between 100 and 300 Hz. Agonistic sounds created during competitive interactions over food, space, or nest brood resources were identified for damselfishes, surgeonfishes, butterflyfishes, and triggerfishes, among others. Reproductive sounds associated with courtship, spawning, or nest defense were produced by damselfishes, goatfishes, butterflyfishes, parrotfishes, and surgeonfishes, as well as wrasses and Moorish idols. The distinct adventitious feeding sounds recorded for some parrotfishes and triggerfishes occurred in a higher frequency band (2−6 kHz) and may be useful indicators of feeding activity and rates of reef bioerosion. This is the first study to characterize the species-specific behavior soundscape that can be applied to acoustic monitoring of a coral reef fish community. KEY WORDS: Bioacoustics • Rebreather • Reef fish • Sound production • Fish behavior • Coral reef Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher Rebreather divers record sounds produced by coral reef fish during resource defense, reproduction, predator avoidance and feeding for acoustic monitoring of population activities.
Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2017
In this study, our goal was to perform acoustic monitoring of the May River, South Carolina (USA), for a 9 mo period and estimate reproductive timelines for a community of soniferous fishes. Acoustic recorders were deployed to collect sound samples for 2 min, every 20 min at 4 stations from the source to the mouth from February to November 2013. We detected the acoustic presence of 6 fish species: Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus, black drum Pogonias cromis, silver perch Bairdiella chrysoura, oyster toadfish Opsanus tau, spotted seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus, and red drum Sciaenops ocellatus. Acoustic detection rates and diversity of soniferous fish were higher near the mouth and decreased towards the source, suggesting a selection of deeper water and/or more stable water quality conditions for spawning. We estimated the start and end dates of the spawning season and calculated the total hours of chorusing for silver perch, oyster toadfish, spotted seatrout, and red drum. Each species followed a specific seasonal and daily pattern of calling, and we observed synchrony of these calling patterns among stations. For silver perch, oyster toadfish, black drum, and spotted seatrout, a negative temperature anomaly correlated with decreased calling intensity, while a positive anomaly increased sound production. For oyster toadfish and spotted seatrout, the lunar phase significantly influenced calling. These data serve as a foundation for future studies that are investigating how climate variability may affect seasonal spawning timelines and year class strength of fish populations using passive acoustic monitoring. KEY WORDS: Fish sound production • Spawning • Estuarine soundscapes • Silver perch • Oyster toadfish • Black drum • Spotted seatrout • Red drum • Fish acoustics Long-term acoustic recorders (black instrument in figure) can be used to estimate spawning timelines and rhythms by detecting fish calls associated with courtship.
Many fish species produce sounds as a part of their reproductive behavior. Using passive acoustic recording approaches, these sounds can be used to document temporal and spatial patterns of reproductive activity of fish populations. We conducted an 11-month passive acoustic survey at three different locations off the coasts of Georgia (40 km north of Grays Reef National Marine Sanctuary) and North Carolina (Onslow Bay) to understand the spawning phenology of two species of acoustically active fishes: black drum (Pogonias cromis) and toadfish (Opsanus sp.). Due to the depth of the recording locations, we could not confirm whether the toadfish calls were produced by O. tau, or another Opsanus species. Both taxa have readily identifiable, distinct sounds. Chorusing sounds from both species were detected at all three Georgia sites and at two of the three North Carolina locations; chorusing duration of both species was greater in Georgia. The onset and duration of chorusing activity for both species was correlated with water temperature. The abundance of calls of these two species from field recordings further demonstrates the value of longterm passive acoustic surveys for understanding the reproductive seasonality of acoustically active fish species.