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J Exp Biol

Title:		Boat noise interferes with Lusitanian toadfish acoustic communication
Author(s):		Alves D; Vieira M; Amorim MCP; Fonseca PJ;
Address:		"Departamento de Biologia Animal and cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciencias, Universidade de Lisboa, Bloco C2. Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal. MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ISPA-Instituto Universitario, Lisbon, Portugal"
Journal Title:		J Exp Biol
Year:		2021
Volume:		20210608
Issue:		11
Page Number:		-
DOI:		10.1242/jeb.234849
ISSN/ISBN:		1477-9145 (Electronic) 0022-0949 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Anthropogenic noise is considered a major underwater pollutant as increasing ocean background noise due to human activities is impacting aquatic organisms. One of the most prevalent anthropogenic sounds is boat noise. Although motorboat traffic has increased in the past few decades, its impact on the communication of fish is still poorly known. The highly vocal Lusitanian toadfish (Halobatrachus didactylus) is an excellent model to test the impact of this anthropogenic stressor as it relies on acoustic communication to attract mates. Here, we performed two experiments to test the impact of boat noise on the acoustic communication of the Lusitanian toadfish. Using the auditory evoked potential (AEP) technique, we first compared the maximum distance a fish can perceive a boatwhistle (BW), the mate attraction acoustic signal, before and after embedding it in boat noise. Noises from a small motorboat and from a ferryboat reduced the active space from a control value of 6.4-10.4 m to 2.0-2.5 m and 6.3-6.7 m, respectively. In the second experiment we monitored the acoustic behaviour of breeding males exposed to boat noise playbacks and we observed an increase in the inter-onset interval of BWs and a disruption of the usual vocal interactions between singing males. These results demonstrate that boat noise can severely reduce the acoustic active space and affect the chorusing behaviour in this species, which may have consequences in breeding success for individuals and could thus affect fitness"
Keywords:		"Acoustics Animals *Batrachoidiformes Communication Humans Male *Ships Vocalization, Animal AEP technique Anthropogenic noise Boatwhistle Communication range Fish Vocal patterns;"
Notes:		"MedlineAlves, Daniel Vieira, Manuel Amorim, M Clara P Fonseca, Paulo J eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2021/06/09 J Exp Biol. 2021 Jun 1; 224(11):jeb234849. doi: 10.1242/jeb.234849. Epub 2021 Jun 8"