Behavioural responses of the European spiny lobster, Palinurus elephas (Fabricius, 1787), to conspecific and synthetic sounds

Abstract

This study examined the effects of three different acoustic stimuli on the behaviour of the European spiny lobster, Palinurus elephas (Fabricius, 1787). Twenty male and 20 female lobsters were exposed to: a low-frequency linear sweep tone (0.1-20 kHz), a high-frequency linear sweep tone (20-80 kHz), conspecific sounds (rasp: train of wideband pulses), and no sound stimulation (control). After a habituation period, lobsters were audio-video recorded for 30 min. Tail flipping, sound emissions, distance moved, mobility, velocity and movement were recorded. Differences between the males and females in the rasp playback condition were observed, with the females having highest values of the behaviours under study. Moreover, when analysing the male and female combined data we found that exposure to synthetic stimuli did not produce any significant variations. Finally, it can be assumed that there is: a capacity for rasp sound perception, and a significant role for these pulses in the intraspecific communication of P. elephas.Key words. -European spiny lobster, noise exposure, behavioural responses, conspecific communication RIASSUNTO Il presente studio ha esaminato gli effetti di tre differenti stimoli acustici sul comportamento dell'aragosta Europea, Palinurus elephas (Fabricius, 1787). Venti esemplari maschi e 20 femmine sono stati esposti ad uno sweep tone lineare a bassa frequenza (0.1-20 kHz), uno sweep tone lineare ad alta frequenza (20-80 kHz), suoni di conspecifici (rasp: treno di impulsi a banda larga), e a nessuna stimolazione acustica (controllo). Dopo un periodo di acclimatamento, le aragoste sono state sottoposte a monitoraggio audio-video per 30 minuti. Sono stati registrati i seguenti eventi e stati comportamentali: tail flip, emissioni acustiche, distanza mossa, mobilità, velocità e movimento.Nella condizione rasp sono state osservate differenze tra maschi e femmine e quest'ultime hanno mostrato i valori più alti dei comportamenti oggetto di indagine. Ulteriormente, analizzando i dati cumulativi di maschi e femmine, si è osservato che l'esposizione a stimoli sintetici non ha prodotto nessuna significativa variazione comportamentale. Infine, è possibile concludere che le aragoste sono in grado di percepire i rasp e che questi impulsi giocano un ruolo significativo nella comunicazione intraspecifica di P. elephas.

Acoustic behaviours of large crustaceans in NE Atlantic coastal habitats

“…The recorded sounds were produced during common behaviours, such as moving, feeding and mandible rubbing, which occur year-round in the natural environment. Our study represents an approximate 40% increase in the total number of acoustic crustacean species found in NE Atlantic habitats (Buscaino et al 2011, de Vincenzi et al 2015, Coquereau et al 2016.…”

“…Far less is known about species that inhabit temperate regions where, to date, few studies have been conducted to identify sound production behaviours. The European spiny lobster Palinurus elephas creates sound in association with anti-predatory behaviours (Buscaino et al 2011, de Vincenzi et al 2015. The lobster Homarus gammarus frequently produces vibrations when handled or attacked by octopus; this suggests an escape function, analogous to stridulation in palinurids (Bouwma & Herrnkind 2009).…”

Sound Diversity as Representation to the Behavior of Spiny Lobster <I>Panulirus homarus</I> (Linnaeus, 1758)

“…Lobster behaviour is represented by some kind of acoustic signaling. Some marine biota produce sound, including fish (Amron et al, 2017;Amron et al, 2018), and crustacean (Patek, 2002;Patek and Oakley, 2003;Henninger and Watson, 2005;Patek and Baio, 2007;Patek et al, 2009;Staaterman et al ., 2010 ;Buscaino et al, 2011a;De Vincenzi et al ., 2015;Jézéquel et al, 2018;Bouwma & Herrnkind, 2009;Jézéquel et al, 2020). The sound produced by these species provides important information about their existence, distribution, and behaviors ( Hamilton et al, 2019).…”

Biological Sound vs. Anthropogenic Noise: Assessment of Behavioural Changes in Scyliorhinus canicula Exposed to Boats Noise

“…To understand a species’ key bioecological activities in aquatic environments, as in terrestrial environments, it is important to examine the role of hearing. There is good evidence that sound is used by marine organisms in different contexts, such as alarm calls warning of danger, orientation cues, territory defense, searching for prey, mating behaviour, and parental care [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Within the marine environment, during the past few decades, the acoustic sense has been subjected to high levels of underwater noise pollution [ 9 ], especially from shipping vessels [ 10 , 11 , 12 ], leading to significant alterations in both animals and habitats [ 9 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ].…”