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Bioacoustics of Fishes of the Family Sciaenidae (Croakers and Drums)
Author(s) -
Ramcharitar John,
Gan Damon P.,
Popper Arthur N.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/t05-207.1
Subject(s) - sciaenidae , sound production , bioacoustics , sound (geography) , diversity (politics) , fish <actinopterygii> , biology , production (economics) , variety (cybernetics) , fishery , acoustics , computer science , telecommunications , artificial intelligence , physics , macroeconomics , sociology , anthropology , economics
Abstract The teleost family Sciaenidae, collectively known as the croakers and drums because of their propensity for making sound, includes roughly 70 genera and 270 species worldwide. Although many other groups of fish also communicate using sound, the sciaenids are unique in the diversity of their sound production mechanisms, variety of sounds produced, and structural variation in sound‐detecting structures. This paper reviews the bioacoustics of sciaenid fishes, including mechanisms involved in the production and reception of sound, the types of sounds produced, and the functions of these sounds. We propose the hypothesis that the unusual diversity in the design of the structures associated with sound production and detection is correlated with a similar diversity in how these structures function. Production and detection of sound appear to be important aspects of sciaenid behavior. But despite the vast literature on sciaenid sound production, we know relatively little about the biological significance of their sounds. This lack of understanding leaves plenty of room for research by physiologists, bioacousticians, behavioral ecologists, and fisheries scientists.