Have you ever imagined that even the fish when they mate can be very noisy? Research has revealed that a particular Mexican species during the "love" phase is so noisy that it can even deafen other marine animals!
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Have you ever imagined that even the fish when they mate can they be very noisy? Research has revealed that a particular Mexican species during the "love" phase it is so noisy that it can even deafen other marine animals!
When it is mating season, males of the species of fish known as Gulf Corvina (Cynoscion othonopterus) produce a deafening noise that resembles a "very loud machine gun" with multiple and rapid sound pulses. To say it a team of scientists who have explored the subject and managed to document something natural and truly extraordinary.
Each year between February and June, fish congregate to spawn in Mexico's Colorado River Delta. The males and females all meet together in the murky waters and the species reproduces within a stretch of about a dozen kilometers. The peculiarity, however, is this: when the right time has come, a few days before the new or full moons, the male fish begin to sing. However, it is certainly not a melodious sound, it rather resembles the deafening noise of a machine gun! You can listen to it here (even if it doesn't make it).
Marine biologists who have managed to record the sound describe the Corvina del Golfo as the "loudest fish ever documented".
Timothy J. Rowell and Brad E. Erisman, scientists at the University of Texas and lead authors of the study published in Scientific Report, spent four days spying on fish with the help of underwater sonar and microphones. In this way they managed to record a real chorus of the coupling as high as 202 decibels (the individual calls instead reached 177 decibels).
In theory, their love calls are powerful enough to potentially damage sea lions' hearing, the authors noted.
But how come they can produce such loud sounds? The gulf corvina has air pockets called swim bladders which are found in the belly surrounded by "sonic muscles" as Rowell called them. When fish contract their abdominal areas, the muscles hit the blisters like drumsticks on a drum.
The sound produced by this fish, among other things, reaches a crescendo during high tide. The chorus begins in a low tone, comparable to the rumble heard in a stadium, and ends as loud as the sound of a swarm of angry bees in a hive. Rowell speculates that the fish are trying to outdo each other, like people screaming in a crowded bar to make their voices heard better than others.
Scientists call for particular attention to the conservation of this "natural spectacle" today threatened by overfishing. The number of fish has in fact decreased in the last 5-10 years and just listening to their noises could be a way to control them. In this way it is possible, for example, to estimate the number of the population without disturbing the animals.
You may also be interested in the mating of fish:
- POECILIA MEXICANA: THE HOMOSEXUAL FISH TO BE MORE ATTRACTIVE WITH FEMALES
- THE TOYAMA BAY FIREFLY SQUID SHOW
Photo: thenaturalnumbers
