Localization of individual mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) within a spawning aggregation and their behaviour throughout a diel spawning period

Abstract

Parsons, M. J., McCauley, R. D., Mackie, M. C., Siwabessy, P., and Duncan, A. J. 2009. Localization of individual mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) within a spawning aggregation and their behaviour throughout a diel spawning period. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 1007–1014. Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) are a soniferous member of the Sciaenidae. During summer in the Swan River of Western Australia, individuals form spawning aggregations in turbid waters around high tide, during late afternoon and early evening. Mulloway produce pulsed vocalizations that are characteristic of the species and to an extent of individuals. Crepuscular passive acoustic recordings of vocalizing mulloway were collected from a four-hydrophone array during March 2008. Arrival-time differences proved the most robust technique for localization. Corroboration of fish position was observed in relative energy levels of calls, surface-reflected path differences, and relative range of successive calls by individuals. Discrete vocal characteristics of the tone-burst frequency and sound-pressure levels assisted the determination of caller identification. Calibration signals were located within a mean distance of 3.4 m. Three-dimensional locations, together with error estimates, were produced for 213 calls during a sample 4-min period in which 495 calls were audible. Examples are given of the movement and related errors for several fish successfully tracked from their vocalizations. Localization confirmed variations in calling rates by individuals, calling altitudes, and the propensity to vary call structure significantly over short periods, hitherto unreported in this species.

Sound production by the West Australian dhufish (Glaucosoma hebraicum)

“…This is most likely due to the different method of sound production which appears to be specific to the Glaucosomatid family (Mok et al, 2011). Large sciaenids, such as mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) or black jewfish (Protonibea diacanthus), whose reported maximum lengths are 1.81 and 1.50 m, respectively (Sasaki, 2001;Silberschneider et al, 2009), can produce calls of mean SL over 150 and up to 172 dB re 1 lPa at 1 m (Cato, 1980;McCauley, 2001;Parsons, 2010;Locascio and Mann, 2011;Parsons et al, 2012) which can propagate several hundred meters (Parsons et al, 2009(Parsons et al, , 2012. Individual G. hebraicum calls are more likely to be effective at ranges of up to around 100 m (assuming typical ambient noise levels of 80-90 dB re 1 lPa over the same bandwidth and spherical spreading as the maximum transmission loss).…”

In situ source levels of mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) calls

“…For example, Lagardère and Mariani (2006) proposed that the short grunts of French meagre (A. regius) are weaker than the long grunts. Similar results from in situ A. japonicus calls have been observed, but it was not confirmed whether pressure wave amplitude differences were due to range, weaker swim bladder twitches or multiple ray-path interference (Parsons et al, 2006;Parsons et al, 2009). Therefore measurement of many SLs may be required to categorize a fish call.…”

“…The determination of absolute numbers of mobile animals such as aggregating fish requires the ability to simultaneously census large volumes of water and to eliminate bias from multiple detections of the same fish. The sensitivity of hydrophones in areas of low ambient noise allows the discrimination of fish calls emitted at large ranges from the receiver and in some cases the ability to monitor individual fish over time, by listening and localizing their calls (Parsons et al, 2009).…”

“…Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus) often spawn in groups (Ueng et al, 2007) and can produce high densities of overlapping calls in the wild (Parsons et al, 2006), complicating the discrimination of separate calls. However, during the commencement of an evening spawning cycle in the Swan River, Perth, Western Australia, calls are of sufficiently low density to offer the opportunity to monitor individual fish (Parsons et al, 2009).…”

Evening choruses in the Perth Canyon and their potential link with Myctophidae fishes

“…For example, continental shelf fish choruses have been reported by Knudsen et al (1948), Cato (1978), McCauley and Cato (2000), Parsons et al (2009), Parsons et al (2013), andMcCauley (2012), while invertebrate chorus are also commonly reported (Everest et al, 1948;Fish, 1964;Castle and Kibblewhite, 1975;Radford et al, 2008). Some whale species are now so abundant on their summering breeding grounds that whale calls form seasonal choruses (e.g., Au et al, 2000 for Hawaiian humpbacks or Sirović et al, 2015 for blue and fin whales).…”