Vocal behavior predicts reproductive success in a teleost fish

Vasconcelos, Raquel O.; Carriço, Rita; Ramos, A.R.; Modesto, Teresa; Fonseca, Paulo J.; Amorim, M. Clara P.

doi:10.1093/beheco/arr199

Cited by 76 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Second, the nocturnal production of sounds against a background chorus dominated without pause for hours by a single multiharmonic sound type reveals a novel underwater soundscape. Third, building upon recent reports of the Lusitanian toadfish, Halobatrachus didactylus (Amorim, 2006;Vasconcelos et al, 2012), the three-spined toadfish, Batrachomoeus trispinosus (Rice and Bass, 2009;Rice et al, 2011), and two toadfish species from Belize, Sanopus astrifer and Batrachoides gilbert (see Mosharo and Lobel, 2012), the current study begins to reveal the breadth of intraspecific and interspecific diversity in the spectro-temporal properties of toadfish calls beyond that of species within the genus Opsanus that have predominated the literature for nearly six decades (see below). Fourth, together with our earlier studies of the three-spined toadfish (Rice and Bass, 2009;Rice et al, 2011), we looked in detail at the structure of individual sounds themselves.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Novel underwater soundscape: acoustic repertoire of plainfin midshipman fish

McIver

Marchaterre

Rice

et al. 2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Toadfishes are among the best-known groups of sound-producing (vocal) fishes and include species commonly known as toadfish and midshipman. Although midshipman have been the subject of extensive investigation of the neural mechanisms of vocalization, this is the first comprehensive, quantitative analysis of the spectrotemporal characters of their acoustic signals and one of the few for fishes in general. Field recordings of territorial, nest-guarding male midshipman during the breeding season identified a diverse vocal repertoire composed of three basic sound types that varied widely in duration, harmonic structure and degree of amplitude modulation (AM): 'hum', 'grunt' and 'growl'. Hum duration varied nearly 1000-fold, lasting for minutes at a time, with stable harmonic stacks and little envelope modulation throughout the sound. By contrast, grunts were brief, ~30-140 ms, broadband signals produced both in isolation and repetitively as a train of up to 200 at intervals of ~0.5-1.0 s. Growls were also produced alone or repetitively, but at variable intervals of the order of seconds with durations between those of grunts and hums, ranging 60-fold from ~200 ms to 12 s. Growls exhibited prominent harmonics with sudden shifts in pulse repetition rate and highly variable AM patterns, unlike the nearly constant AM of grunt trains and flat envelope of hums. Behavioral and neurophysiological studies support the hypothesis that each sound type's unique acoustic signature contributes to signal recognition mechanisms. Nocturnal production of these sounds against a background chorus dominated constantly for hours by a single sound type, the multiharmonic hum, reveals a novel underwater soundscape for fish.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Novel underwater soundscape: acoustic repertoire of plainfin midshipman fish

McIver

Marchaterre

Rice

et al. 2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Studies have shown that synchronized calling can increase success of reproduction, attract females, and mislead predators (Vasconcelos et al 2012, Greenfield et al 2016). In our study, calling was more synchronized in time for stations that were closer to -19, 2017 each other than for stations that were further apart.…”

Section: Synchronized Calling May Facilitate Reproductive Successmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term acoustic monitoring of fish calling provides baseline estimates of reproductive timelines in the May River estuary, southeastern USA

Monczak¹,

Berry²,

Kehrer³

et al. 2017

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Long-term acoustic recorders (black instrument in figure) can be used to estimate spawning timelines and rhythms by detecting fish calls associated with courtship. Design by Tim Devine, USCB Graphics ManagerMar Ecol Prog Ser 581: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] 2017 2015). In the family Sciaenidae, sound-producing fishes include Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus, silver perch Bairdiella chrysoura, black drum Pogonias cromis, spotted seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus, weakfish C. regalis, red drum Sciaenops ocellatus, spot Leiostomus xanthurus, and southern kingfish Menticirrhus americanus (Luczkovich et al. 1999, Sprague 2000, Ramcharitar et al. 2006, Gannon & Taylor 2007, Lowerre-Barbieri et al. 2008, Walters et al. 2009, Tellechea et al. 2011, Montie et al. 2015. Sound production in these fishes typically involves rapid movement of the sonic muscle surrounding the swim bladder. The resulting calls are species-specific due to anatomical differences in swim bladder and sonic muscle morphology as well as neural programming; therefore, call types can be used for species identification (Winn 1964, Ramcharitar et al. 2006.Sound production in fish species has been associated mainly with courtship behavior and reproduction (e.g. Saucier & Baltz 1993, Mann & Lobel 1995, Luczkovich et al. 2008, Walters et al. 2009, Mann et al. 2010, Montie et al. 2016, 2017. Studies have recorded underwater sounds during spawning seasons and have shown that patterns of peak calling coincide with patterns of reproductive senescence (i.e. gonadosomatic indices, sperm motility, and plasma androgen levels; Connaughton & Taylor 1995). Other wild studies have simultaneously collected acoustic recordings and plankton tows, and these data have shown that fish calling and spawning are tightly associated (Mok & Gilmore 1983, Saucier & Baltz 1993, Luczkovich et al. 1999, Aalbers & Drawbridge 2008, Lowerre-Barbieri et al. 2008. For example, the timing and amount of calling in wild weakfish were positively correlated with the timing and numbers of sciaenid eggs collected (Luczkovich et al. 1999). Similar findings have been observed in captive studies (Guest & Lasswell 1978, Connaughton & Taylor 1996, Lowerre-Barbieri et al. 2008, Montie et al. 2016, 2017. In weakfish held in laboratory tanks, courtship behavior, male calling, and spawning were correlated (Connaughton & Taylor 1996). In a quantitative study with captive red drum, findings revealed that spawning was more productive when the amount of calling increased; more eggs were collected when calls were longer in duration and contained more pulses (Montie et al. 2016). In a similar study with captive spotted seatrout, spawning was more likely to occur when male fish called more frequently; a positive relationship was found between sound pressure levels in tanks and the number of eggs collected (Montie et al. 2017). These findings indicate that acoustic metrics can accurately predict spawning potential for some soniferous fishes and that deployment of lon...

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“…Boatwhistles have been commonly described as mate advertisement calls among batrachoidids, used by nesting males to attract females for spawning (e.g. Vasconcelos et al, 2012). However, Vasconcelos et al (2010) showed that Lusitanian toadfish also uses this signal in agonistic contexts during active nest defence.…”

Section: Ontogenetic Vocal Differentiationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The vocal repertoire of toadfish adults was recorded under semi-natural conditions following the method described by Vasconcelos et al (2010Vasconcelos et al ( , 2012. Briefly, during the toadfish breeding season (May-June), males that spontaneously occupied six concrete shelters placed close to the lower limit of an intertidal area of the Tagus estuary were recorded with a similar audio chain as above: a High Tech 94 SSQ hydrophone placed next to each nest, connected to an audiocapture device (M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R, Cumberland, RI, USA) and then to a laptop controlled by Adobe Audition 3.0.…”

Section: Sound Recordingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocal differentiation parallels development of auditory saccular sensitivity in a highly soniferous fish

Vasconcelos

Alderks

Ramos

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Vocal differentiation is widely documented in birds and mammals but has been poorly investigated in other vertebrates, including fish, which represent the oldest extant vertebrate group. Neural circuitry controlling vocal behaviour is thought to have evolved from conserved brain areas that originated in fish, making this taxon key to understanding the evolution and development of the vertebrate vocal-auditory systems. This study examines ontogenetic changes in the vocal repertoire and whether vocal differentiation parallels auditory development in the Lusitanian toadfish Halobatrachus didactylus (Batrachoididae). This species exhibits a complex acoustic repertoire and is vocally active during early development. Vocalisations were recorded during social interactions for four size groups (fry: <2 cm; small juveniles: 2-4 cm; large juveniles: 5-7 cm; adults >25 cm, standard length). Auditory sensitivity of juveniles and adults was determined based on evoked potentials recorded from the inner ear saccule in response to pure tones of 75-945 Hz. We show an ontogenetic increment in the vocal repertoire from simple broadband-pulsed 'grunts' that later differentiate into four distinct vocalisations, including low-frequency amplitude-modulated 'boatwhistles'. Whereas fry emitted mostly single grunts, large juveniles exhibited vocalisations similar to the adult vocal repertoire. Saccular sensitivity revealed a three-fold enhancement at most frequencies tested from small to large juveniles; however, large juveniles were similar in sensitivity to adults. We provide the first clear evidence of ontogenetic vocal differentiation in fish, as previously described for higher vertebrates. Our results suggest a parallel development between the vocal motor pathway and the peripheral auditory system for acoustic social communication in fish.

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Vocal behavior predicts reproductive success in a teleost fish

Cited by 76 publications

References 48 publications

Novel underwater soundscape: acoustic repertoire of plainfin midshipman fish

Novel underwater soundscape: acoustic repertoire of plainfin midshipman fish

Long-term acoustic monitoring of fish calling provides baseline estimates of reproductive timelines in the May River estuary, southeastern USA

Vocal differentiation parallels development of auditory saccular sensitivity in a highly soniferous fish

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