The Pied Piper of fish

3 June 2003

Fishy noises could be the answer for improved reef fisheries management according to an international team of researchers.

Some juvenile coral reef fish are attracted by sounds they would have heard while they were in the egg. By using these sounds, the fish can be led to artificial reefs where they will start new colonies. It may be possible in the future to lead young fish into overfished areas, and super-stock Marine Protected Areas.

Marine biologist Stephen Simpson of the University of York fronts the international team. He explains, "Many coral reef fish are spawned on the reef, and while the eggs develop, their noisy parents look after them. Once they hatch, the ant-sized fish escape out to sea for a month to escape the many predators on the reef. There they develop into juveniles. They wait for the new moon and then, under the cloak of darkness, they cross the 'wall of mouths' to settle on a reef. This research has also solved a mystery - how they choose a reef has baffled us for many years."

Working at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, the researchers have used noise to persuade fish to settle on artificial reefs. In addition, by playing comparable noises to fish eggs, Simpson and Dr Hong Yan at University of Kentucky discovered that embryos would hear the noises made by the fish on their reef before they have even hatched.

Simpson explains, "The noise consists of the pops, bangs, whoops and trumpet sounds used by nocturnal fish to communicate as they hunt. A background crackle is also made by bubbles popping at the claw tips of snapping shrimps. The difference in noise during the day and at night can be compared to a quiet suburban street and rush hour traffic."

Working alongside Dr Mark Meekan of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Simpson put speakers into artificial reefs, and found that fish used the recorded noises to find a place to settle. "The number of fish arriving on noisy reefs was six times the amount that went to the silent reefs. These experiments provide substantial evidence that fish use reef sounds to navigate when seeking suitable spots to make their home" he says.

This suggests that their memories may become imprinted with the noise of their particular reef - information that could be essential when they are later choosing where to settle.

Further information

NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215

Stephen Simpson
University of York
Tel: 01904 632768
Mob: 07900551883

Hilary Layton
Head of Communications
University of York
Tel: 01904 432029

Notes

1. Images and sample reef noise recordings can be obtained from Stephen Simpson.

2. Stephen Simpson is in the third year of a PhD at the University of York, and is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council. Other researchers in the international team are: Dr Mark Meekan of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Dr Hong Yang of the University of Kentucky (with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Service of US Department of Education & National Institute of Mental Health and National Organization for Hearing Research), Dr Andrew Jeffs of the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, New Zealand (supported by the Marsden Fund), and Dr Rob McCauley of Curtin University, Australia.

3. NERC funds and carries out impartial scientific research in the sciences of the environment. NERC trains the next generation of independent environmental scientists.

The Pied Piper of fish

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