Functional study of the pectoral spine stridulation mechanism in different mochokid catfishes

Parmentier, Éric; Fabri, Grégory; Kaatz, Ingrid M.; Decloux, Nicole; Planes, Serge; Vandewalle, Pierre

doi:10.1242/jeb.039461

Cited by 38 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…pimelodids) sounds are only produced during abduction (Pfeiffer and Eisenberg, 1965;Ladich, 1997;Kaatz, 1999;Heyd and Pfeiffer, 2000;Lechner et al, 2010;Parmentier et al, 2010). The second type of sound produced by catfishes is low-frequency drumming sounds, produced when the swimbladder is vibrated (Sörensen, 1895;Tavolga, 1971;AbuGideiri and Nasr, 1973;Kastberger, 1977;Ladich, 1997;Ladich, 1999).…”

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confidence: 99%

Distress sounds of thorny catfishes emitted underwater and in air:characteristics and potential significance

Knight

Ladich

2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Thorny catfishes produce stridulation (SR) sounds using their pectoral fins and drumming (DR) sounds via a swimbladder mechanism in distress situations when hand held in water and in air. It has been argued that SR and DR sounds are aimed at different receivers (predators) in different media. The aim of this study was to analyse and compare sounds emitted in both air and water in order to test different hypotheses on the functional significance of distress sounds. Five representatives of the family Doradidae were investigated. Fish were hand held and sounds emitted in air and underwater were recorded (number of sounds, sound duration, dominant and fundamental frequency, sound pressure level and peak-to-peak amplitudes). All species produced SR sounds in both media, but DR sounds could not be recorded in air for two species. Differences in sound characteristics between media were small and mainly limited to spectral differences in SR. The number of sounds emitted decreased over time, whereas the duration of SR sounds increased. The dominant frequency of SR and the fundamental frequency of DR decreased and sound pressure level of SR increased with body size across species. The hypothesis that catfish produce more SR sounds in air and more DR sounds in water as a result of different predation pressure (birds versus fish) could not be confirmed. It is assumed that SR sounds serve as distress sounds in both media, whereas DR sounds might primarily be used as intraspecific communication signals in water in species possessing both mechanisms.

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Distress sounds of thorny catfishes emitted underwater and in air:characteristics and potential significance

Knight

Ladich

2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…There are numerous catfishes that produce both adduction and abduction stridulation pulses (Heyd and Pfeiffer, 2000;Ladich, 1997) al., 1996), indicating that there is no mechanical impediment to producing adduction sounds, which would require amended neural commands. High-speed videos reveal that individual pulses are produced during a series of quick jerk movements, invisible to the human eye, during abduction (Parmentier et al, 2010;Mohajer et al, in press) when ridges on the underside of the dorsal process rub against a groove in the cleithrum . Sounds are produced by a slip-stick mechanism when abduction force exceeds static friction from the two rubbing surfaces (Patek, 2001), causing a quick forward motion, the jerk (Parmentier et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High-speed videos reveal that individual pulses are produced during a series of quick jerk movements, invisible to the human eye, during abduction (Parmentier et al, 2010;Mohajer et al, in press) when ridges on the underside of the dorsal process rub against a groove in the cleithrum . Sounds are produced by a slip-stick mechanism when abduction force exceeds static friction from the two rubbing surfaces (Patek, 2001), causing a quick forward motion, the jerk (Parmentier et al, 2010). The jerk, in turn, transfers energy to the pectoral girdle, the sound radiator .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the logic of cricket stridulation, Fine et al posited that contact of individual ridges would be responsible for pulse generation although they stated there would be insufficient time for a ridge to make, lose and re-contact the cleithrum between pulses. In work with mochokid catfishes using a high-speed camera, Parmentier et al (Parmentier et al, 2010) established that pulses are generated by a series of quick rotation movements or 'jerks' of the pectoral spine separated by pauses. They described the mechanism of sound generation as similar to a railroad break (Parmentier et al, 2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In work with mochokid catfishes using a high-speed camera, Parmentier et al (Parmentier et al, 2010) established that pulses are generated by a series of quick rotation movements or 'jerks' of the pectoral spine separated by pauses. They described the mechanism of sound generation as similar to a railroad break (Parmentier et al, 2010). More recent work in the blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus Lesueur (Mohajer et al, in press), has modified this interpretation, demonstrating jerks generate sound by a stick-slip mechanism as in spiny lobsters (Patek, 2001;Patek, 2002), in which the jerk transfers energy from the dorsal-process ridges to the cleithrum of the fused pectoral girdle Schaefer, 1984), which in turn excites the girdle to radiate one sound pulse for each jerk.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Developmental variation in sound production in water and air in the blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus

Ghahramani

Mohajer

Fine

2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus, the largest catfish in North America, produce pectoral stridulation sounds (distress calls) when attacked and held. They have both fish and bird predators, and the frequency spectrum of their sounds is better matched to the hearing of birds than to that of unspecialized fish predators with low frequency hearing. It is unclear whether their sounds evolved to function in air or water. We categorized the calls and how they change with fish size in air and water and compared developmental changes in call parameters with stridulation motions captured with a high-speed camera. Stridulation sounds consist of a variable series of pulses produced during abduction of the pectoral spine. Pulses are caused by quick rapid spine rotations (jerks) of the pectoral spine that do not change with fish size although larger individuals generate longer, higher amplitude pulses with lower peak frequencies. There are longer pauses between jerks, and therefore fewer jerks and fewer pulses, in larger fish, which take longer to abduct their spines and therefore produce a longer series of pulses per abduction sweep. Sounds couple more effectively to water (1400 times greater pressure in Pascals at 1 m), are more sharply tuned and have lower peak frequencies than in air. Blue catfish stridulation sounds appear to be specialized to produce underwater signals although most of the sound spectrum includes frequencies matched to catfish hearing but largely above the hearing range of unspecialized fishes.

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Neuroanatomical and neurophysiological mechanisms of acoustic and weakly electric signaling in synodontid catfish

Kéver

Bass

Parmentier

et al. 2020

J of Comparative Neurology

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To what extent do modifications in the nervous system and peripheral effectors contribute to novel behaviors? Using a combination of morphometric analysis, neuroanatomical tract‐tracing, and intracellular neuronal recording, we address this question in a sound‐producing and a weakly electric species of synodontid catfish, Synodontis grandiops , and Synodontis nigriventris , respectively. The same peripheral mechanism, a bilateral pair of protractor muscles associated with vertebral processes (elastic spring mechanism), is involved in both signaling systems. Although there were dramatic species differences in several morphometric measures, electromyograms provided strong evidence that simultaneous activation of paired protractor muscles accounts for an individual sound and electric discharge pulse. While the general architecture of the neural network and the intrinsic properties of the motoneuron population driving each target was largely similar, differences could contribute to species‐specific patterns in electromyograms and the associated pulse repetition rate of sounds and electric discharges. Together, the results suggest that adaptive changes in both peripheral and central characters underlie the transition from an ancestral sound to a derived electric discharge producing system, and thus the evolution of a novel communication channel among synodontid catfish. Similarities with characters in other sonic and weakly electric teleost fish provide a striking example of convergent evolution in functional adaptations underlying the evolution of the two signaling systems among distantly related taxa.

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Functional study of the pectoral spine stridulation mechanism in different mochokid catfishes

Cited by 38 publications

References 21 publications

Distress sounds of thorny catfishes emitted underwater and in air:characteristics and potential significance

Distress sounds of thorny catfishes emitted underwater and in air:characteristics and potential significance

Developmental variation in sound production in water and air in the blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus

Neuroanatomical and neurophysiological mechanisms of acoustic and weakly electric signaling in synodontid catfish

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