Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T05:48:38.670Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Acoustic communication in the Lusitanian toadfish, Halobatrachus didactylus: evidence for an unusual large vocal repertoire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2008

M.C.P. Amorim ,
J.M. Simões  and
P.J. Fonseca
M.C.P. Amorim*
Affiliation:
Unidade de Investigação em Eco-Etologia, I.S.P.A., Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149-041 Lisboa, Portugal
J.M. Simões
Affiliation:
Unidade de Investigação em Eco-Etologia, I.S.P.A., Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149-041 Lisboa, Portugal
P.J. Fonseca
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biologia Animal e Centro de Biologia Ambiental, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Bloco C2 Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: M.C.P. AmorimUnidade de Investigação em Eco-EtologiaI.S.P.A., Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34 1149-041 Lisboa, Portugal email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Lusitanian toadfish Halobatrachus didactylus (Bloch & Schneider) (Batrachoididae) is a well-known sound producer that has an unusual large acoustic repertoire for fish. This repertoire consists so far of five distinct sound categories: boatwhistles, grunt trains, croaks, double croaks and a mixed grunt–croak call. Sixteen males that spontaneously occupied artificial concrete nests placed in the intertidal zone of the Tagus estuary (Portugal) were recorded over 8 days in June/July 2006. During the analysis of the recordings new sound emissions were found. Long grunt trains that sounded to the human ear like a running engine were heard. These sounds differ from the normal grunt trains by having a lower amplitude, a much longer duration (tens of seconds versus <1 second) and more grunts per call. Other new sound emissions (e.g. triple croaks) were also registered but were heard less frequently. The incidence of the various sound types is given.

Keywords

acoustic communicationLusitanian toadfishvocal repertoire
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Issue 5 , August 2008 , pp. 1069 - 1073
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Amorim, M.C.P. (2006) Diversity of sound production in fish. In Ladich, F., Collin, S.P., Moller, P. and Kapoor, B.G. (eds) Fish communication. Enfield, NH: Science Publishers, pp. 71–105.Google Scholar
Amorim, M.C.P. and Vasconcelos, R.O. (2006) Individuality in the mating call of the male Lusitanian toadfish, Halobatrachus didactylus. Razprave IV Razreda Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts 47, 237–244.Google Scholar
Amorim, M.C.P., Vasconcelos, R.O., Marques, J.F. and Almada, F. (2006) Seasonal variation of sound production in the Lusitanian toadfish, Halobatrachus didactylus. Journal of Fish Biology 69, 1892–1899.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amorim, M.C.P., Simões, J.M., Fonseca, P.J. and Turner, G.F. (in press) Species differences in acoustic signals among five Lake Malawi cichlid species (Pseudotropheus spp.). Journal of Fish Biology.Google Scholar
Bass, A.H. and McKibben, J.R. (2003) Neural mechanisms and behaviors for acoustic communication in teleost fish. Progress in Neurobiology 605, 1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, J.D. (1997) Hearing and acoustic communication in mormyrid electric fishes. Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology 29, 65–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
dos Santos, M., Modesto, T., Matos, R.J., Grober, M.S., Oliveira, R.F. and Canário, A. (2000) Sound production by the Lusitanian toadfish, Halobatrachus didactylus. Bioacoustics 10, 309–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, A.D. and Amorim, M.C.P. (2000) Spawning sounds of the male haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus. Environmental Biology of Fishes 59, 29–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ladich, F. (2004) Sound production and acoustic communication. In Van der Emde, G., Mogdans, J. and Kapoor, B.G. (eds) The senses of fishes. Adaptations for the reception of natural stimuli. New Delhi: Narosa Publishing House, pp. 210–230.Google Scholar
Ladich, F. and Fine, M.L. (2006) Sound-generating mechanisms in fishes: a unique diversity in vertebrates. In Ladich, F., Collin, S.P., Moller, P. and Kapoor, B.G. (eds) Communication in fishes. Enfield, NH: Science Publishers, pp. 3–43.Google Scholar
Mann, D.A. and Lobel, P.S. (1998) Acoustic behavior of the damselfish Dascyllus albisella: behavioral and geographic variation. Environmental Biology of Fishes 51, 421–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myrberg, A.A. Jr, Spanier, E. and Ha, S.J. (1978) Temporal patterning in acoustic communication. In Reese, E.S. and Lighter, F.J. (eds) Contrasts in behavior. New York: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 137–179.Google Scholar
Thorson, R.F. and Fine, M.L. (2002) Crepuscular changes in emission rate and parameters of the boat whistle advertisement call of the gulf toadfish, Opsanus beta. Environmental Biology of Fishes 63, 321–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar