Graded behavioral responses and habituation to sound in the common cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis

Abstract

Sound is a widely available and vital cue in aquatic environments, yet most bioacoustic research has focused on marine vertebrates, leaving sound detection in invertebrates poorly understood. Cephalopods are an ecologically key taxon that likely use sound and may be impacted by increasing anthropogenic ocean noise, but little is known regarding their behavioral responses or adaptations to sound stimuli. These experiments identify the acoustic range and levels that elicit a wide range of secondary defense behaviors such as inking, jetting and rapid coloration change. Secondarily, it was found that cuttlefish habituate to certain sound stimuli. The present study examined the behavioral responses of 22 cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) to pure-tone pips ranging from 80 to 1000 Hz with sound pressure levels of 85-188 dB re. 1 μPa rms and particle accelerations of 0-17.1 m s −2 . Cuttlefish escape responses (inking, jetting) were observed between frequencies of 80 and 300 Hz and at sound levels above 140 dB re. 1 μPa rms and 0.01 m s −2 (0.74 m s −2 for inking responses). Body patterning changes and fin movements were observed at all frequencies and sound levels. Response intensity was dependent upon stimulus amplitude and frequency, suggesting that cuttlefish also possess loudness perception with a maximum sensitivity around 150 Hz. Cuttlefish habituated to repeated 200 Hz tone pips, at two sound intensities. Total response inhibition was not reached, however, and a basal response remained present in most animals. The graded responses provide a loudness sensitivity curve and suggest an ecological function for sound use in cephalopods.

Population‐level consequences of seismic surveys on fishes: An interdisciplinary challenge

“…Furthermore, fish also exhibit relevant perceptual phenomena, such as habituation and sensitization (Neo, Hubert, Bolle, Winter, & Slabbekoorn, ; Radford, Lefèbre, Lecaillon, Nedelec, & Simpson, ; Rankin et al., ), which may play a critical role in impact assessment (Bejder, Samuels, Whitehead, Finn, & Allen, ; Harding et al., ) and which apply across marine taxa (e.g. Götz & Janik, ; Samson, Mooney, Gussekloo, & Hanlon, ). However, we still know very little about the separate or integrated roles of sound pressure and particle motion sensitivity in these perceptual abilities of fish and most studies have just focused on hearing thresholds and frequency ranges.…”

Coral reef soundscapes may not be detectable far from the reef

“…No hearing studies have been carried out on larval marine invertebrates. Audiometric studies on adults are also somewhat limited, but like most fish, those tested (e.g., cephalopods and crustaceans) show lowest (most sensitive) thresholds below 1000 Hz1718192021. Thus, it is critical to measure the propagation of reef sound at a range of frequencies, and particularly those low-frequency sounds that are within the hearing ranges of many marine fishes and invertebrates.…”

Directional flow sensing by passively stable larvae

“…The statocysts of oyster larvae have possible neural connections to the pedal and pleural ganglia (Ellis and Kempf, 2011), but the function of these connections is unknown. Holoplanktonic mollusks, including cephalopods and pteropods, experience higher Reynolds numbers than larvae and require greater maneuverability; accordingly, they have larger statocysts that are involved in complex neural signaling and even in the detection of sound (Budelmann, 1995;Levi et al, 2004;Mooney et al, 2010;Samson et al, 2014). Sound has also been proposed as a cue for oyster settlement (Lillis et al, 2013), but our flow devices produced the same sounds in both orientations, and the lack of response in vertical cylinders rules out sound as a behavioral cue in this study.…”