Sound pressure and particle acceleration audiograms in three marine fish species from the Adriatic Sea

Abstract

Fishes show great variability in hearing sensitivity, bandwidth, and the appropriate stimulus component for the inner ear (particle motion or pressure). Here, hearing sensitivities in three vocal marine species belonging to different families were described in terms of sound pressure and particle acceleration. In particular, hearing sensitivity to tone bursts of varying frequencies were measured in the red-mouthed goby Gobius cruentatus, the Mediterranean damselfish Chromis chromis, and the brown meagre Sciaena umbra using the non-invasive auditory evoked potential-recording technique. Hearing thresholds were measured in terms of sound pressure level and particle acceleration level in the three Cartesian directions using a newly developed miniature pressure-acceleration sensor. The brown meagre showed the broadest hearing range (up to 3000 Hz) and the best hearing sensitivity, both in terms of sound pressure and particle acceleration. The red-mouthed goby and the damselfish were less sensitive, with upper frequency limits of 700 and 600 Hz, respectively. The low auditory thresholds and the large hearing bandwidth of S. umbra indicate that sound pressure may play a role in S. umbra's hearing, even though pronounced connections between the swim bladder and the inner ears are lacking.

Auditory evoked potential audiograms in post-settlement stage individuals of coral reef fishes

“…5). Previous studies have already measured behavioral audiograms in holocentrids (Tavolga and Wodinsky, 1963;Coombs and Popper, 1979), as well as AEP audiograms in a few pomacentrids (Egner and Mann, 2005;Wright et al, 2005;Wysocki et al, 2009) and chaetodontids (Webb et al, 2012;Tricas and Boyle, 2015). However, direct comparison of these studies with our AEP traces can be irrelevant because audiograms produce very different results depending on the methodology used (i.e.…”

Seasonal plasticity of auditory saccular sensitivity in “sneaker” type II male plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus

“…Consistent with previous studies, acceleration measurements were collected in three dimensions relative to fish orientation inside the tank: x (anterior/posterior), y (left/right) and z (dorsal/ventral) (Casper and Mann 2006;Horodysky et al 2008;Wysocki et al 2009) using a custom-modified three-dimensional underwater accelerometer (PCB model VW356A12, sensitivity = 100 mV g −1 (10.2 mV ms −2 ) PCB Piezotronics, Depew, NY) that was encased in syntactic foam and epoxy to make it neutrally buoyant. We characterized the acoustic impedance (ratio of sound pressure to particle velocity) of our experimental tank conditions as suggested by Popper and Fay (2011), using the calibration measurements at different three SPLs: 118, 130, and 145 dB (re.…”

“…Because there was a linear relationship between pressure and particle motion at all frequencies tested, best-fit linear transformations were derived for each frequency using pressure calibration measurements and the equivalent particle motion measurements in the x, y and z axes. After deriving thresholds in the x, y and z dimensions, particle motion threshold reported as the combined magnitude vector, calculated as 20 log (√(x 2 + y 2 + z 2 )) similar to Wysocki et al (2009) …”

Diversity in Fish Auditory Systems: One of the Riddles of Sensory Biology

“…less straightforward than that in cichlids and holocentrids (Ramcharitar et al, 2004(Ramcharitar et al, , 2006Horodysky et al, 2008;Wysocki et al, 2009). Ramcharitar et al (2006) showed that the swim bladder in the weakfish Cynoscion regalis has anterior horns that terminate close to the ears and that this species detects sound frequencies up to 2 kHz.…”