The auditory roles of the gas bladder and suprabranchial chamber in walking catfish (Clarias batrachus)

Abstract

Background: The enhanced auditory abilities of certain fish are dependent on specialized hearing structures. Several gas-holding structures, including the suprabranchial chamber, otic gas bladder, and Weberian apparatus-linked gas bladder, have been demonstrated to improve the hearing ability of fish. The walking catfish (Clarias batrachus), a benthic species, is unique in that it has both a suprabranchial chamber (SC) and a Weberian apparatus-linked, encapsulated gas bladder (WGB). This study aimed to investigate the respective roles of these two structures in contributing to the overall hearing ability of walking catfish. Results: The auditory evoked potentials method was used to measure hearing thresholds in intact fish and fish with a deflated WGB and/or SC. Gas removal from the WGB increased auditory thresholds at all frequencies tested (0.4 to 5.0 kHz), whereas injection of water into the SC shifted the threshold only at frequencies below 3.0 kHz. However, such a correlation was not observed for the SC at 4.0 and 5.0 kHz.

To boldly gulp: standard metabolic rate and boldness have context-dependent influences on risk-taking to breathe air in a catfish

“…This would be analogous to previous reports of bolder animals achieving faster growth via increased foraging rates (Biro et al, 2004). It is also conceivable that these air-breathing responses provided other benefits to bolder animals, such as improved maintenance of buoyancy (Hedrick and Jones, 1993) or even improved auditory sensitivity (Shao et al, 2014).…”

Swim bladder resonance enhances hearing in crucian carp (Carassius auratus)

“…Swim bladder functions as a pressure-to-particle motion transducer that lowers the hearing threshold and expands the auditory bandwidth (Schulz-Mirbach et al, 2019). The morphological features of the swim bladder and their contribution to hearing have been investigated in previous studies (Colleye et al, 2019;Schulz-Mirbach et al, 2012;Vetter and Sisneros, 2020;Yan et al, (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved.…”

“…Besides, most teleost species, such as goldfish ( Carassius auratus ) and walking catfish ( Clarias batrachus ), have evolved to own a swim bladder or other gas-filled cavities to detect sounds through the indirect pathway (Fig. 1B; Schulz-Mirbach et al, 2019; Shao et al, 2014). In this pathway, air cavities can oscillate to transduce sound energy to the inner ear (Popper et al, 2003; Schulz-Mirbach et al, 2019).…”

“…Hearing capability can be examined through auditory evoked potentials (AEP) measurement (Corwin et al, 1982; Horodysky et al, 2008; Kenyon et al, 1998). Using this non-invasive electrophysiological method, the auditory evoked potentials from eighth nerves can be recorded to examine hearing in fish (Ladich and Fay, 2013) and investigate the role of auditory specializations (e.g., swim bladder) in hearing (Shao et al, 2014; Yan et al, 2000). The otolith end organs act as biological accelerometers that allow fish to directly detect particle motion (Vetter and Sisneros, 2020).…”