Acoustic communication in fishes: Temperature plays a role

Abstract

Temperature affects peripheral and central mechanisms of signal production and detection in ectothermic animals. This study reviews for the first time the effects of temperature on acoustic communication in fishes and analyses whether changes in sound properties are coupled to changes in auditory sensitivities. Effects of temperature on sound production have been studied in approximately one dozen families of teleosts. Calling activity increased or was unaffected by temperature, in the latter case probably because seasonal, daily and lunar rhythms also influence mating behaviour and calling. Sound characteristics (pulse repetition rate, fundamental frequency) are positively correlated with temperature if pulses are directly based on sonic muscle contractions. In fishes possessing other sonic mechanisms, the dominant frequency of their pulsatile pectoral sounds may increase as well. Auditory sensitivities were mainly determined in otophysines, which possess enhanced hearing abilities. Studies revealed that hearing increased with temperature, in particular at higher frequencies. We know close to nothing about whether temperaturedependent changes in sound characteristics are coupled to changes in auditory sensitivity or mate choice. Female midshipman toadfish appear to choose males based on call frequency, which varies with temperature. Future studies need to address several topics: (i) temperature effects on sound production have to be separated from other sources of variation; (ii) effects on hearing need to be studied in many more taxa; (iii) potential negative effects of global warming on acoustic communication (because of temperature coupling) need to be investigated because fish constitute a major source of protein for humans. K E Y W O R D Scalling activity, fundamental frequency, hearing, pulse repetition rate, sound characteristics, temperature couplingThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Sound production in the Meagre,Argyrosomus regius(Asso, 1801): intraspecific variability associated with size, sex and context

“…Though grunts with less than five pulses are produced by this species in voluntary contexts (Vieira et al, 2019), in this study, these short sounds were not registered, likely because the sounds produced were connected with breeding in which sounds tend to be of long duration, or due to the short sampling effort. Finally, advertisement sounds recorded in Tagus estuary were similar to the ones registered in captivity although they differed in the pulse period, possibly associated with disparities in the environment and fish, such as the existence of higher temperature fluctuations in the field (Ladich, 2018) and different sizes or group composition of the sound emitters. Sounds registered in the field were from unseen fish which were possibly larger than captive ones and also likely calling in larger aggregations.…”

“…This may be explained by the diurnal temperature fluctuations observed in the field (ranging from 18 to 23 • C), which are highly influenced by tides, in contrast to more constant temperatures in captivity. Sound parameters associated with muscle contraction have shown to change with temperature (Connaughton, Taylor & Fine, 2000;Connaughton, Fine & Taylor, 2002b;Ladich, 2018). Moreover, water temperature appears to be the most important factor determining meagre migrations and reproduction (FAO, 2005(FAO, -2011b.…”

Peer Review #1 of "Sound production in the Meagre, Argyrosomus regius (Asso, 1801): intraspecific variability associated with size, sex and context (v0.1)"

“…Though grunts with less than 5 pulses are produced by this species in voluntary 359 contexts (Vieira et al, 2019), in this study, these short sounds were not registered, likely because 360 the sounds produced were connected with breeding in which sounds tend to be of long duration, 361 or due to the short sampling effort. Finally, advertisement sounds recorded in Tagus estuary were 362 similar to the ones registered in captivity although they differed in the pulse period, possibly 363 associated with disparities in the environment and fish, such as the existence of higher temperature 364 fluctuations in the field (Ladich, 2018) and different sizes or group composition of the sound 365 emitters. Sounds registered in the field were from unseen fish which were possibly larger than 366 captive ones and also likely calling in larger aggregations.…”

Ecology of sound communication in fishes

“…This paper reviews available empirical data regarding short‐time effects on sound communication in fishes when predators are detected acoustically and when background noise varies. Effects of ambient temperature have recently been reviewed (Ladich, ). Potential long‐time effects of ecological constraints on the evolution of sound communication in fishes are briefly discussed (Ladich, ,b).…”

“…This makes it important to know if and to what degree fishes can modify acoustic signalling when key ecological factors—predation pressure, noise and ambient temperature—vary. This paper reviews short‐time effects of the first two factors; the third has been reviewed recently (Ladich, ). Numerous studies have investigated the effects of predators on fish behaviour, but only a few report changes in calling activity when hearing predator calls as demonstrated when fish responded to played‐back dolphin sounds.…”