[en] Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) uses hydrophones to record all components of underwater soundscapes, including fish calls. Several studies have used PAM to investigate different aspects of vocal fish species, such as presence, distribution, relative abundance, diel, lunar and seasonal cycle of activity as well as for delimitating spawning areas and for studying wild fish spawning behaviour. A recent study conducted in Mediterranean rocky reefs has proved that the analysis of vocal fish communities provides high discrimination potential of species assemblages. Aside from this study, most investigations to date have considered fish species in isolation, and there is a general paucity of data addressing acoustic communication of fishes living in natural communities. We present a preliminary characterisation of vocal fish communities over a geographical and environmental gradient in Mediterranean Posidonia oceanica meadows and adjacent areas. We compared abundance and diversity of fish sounds recorded during the peak of fish vocal season in Posidonia oceanica meadows (-20 m) along a longitudinal axis (Mallorca, Corsica and Crete). These results are discussed in a framework that highlights the investment of different vocal fish species in partitioning their active acoustic space (in terms of both frequency and time) over small- and large-scale gradients. Our study supports the potential of PAM to provide high resolution information on fish population dynamics.
Research Center/Unit :
FOCUS - Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch - ULiège AFFISH-RC - Applied and Fundamental FISH Research Center - ULiège
Disciplines :
Zoology
Author, co-author :
Bolgan, Marta ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Morphologie fonctionnelle et évolutive
Di Iorio, Lucia
Dailianis, Thanos
Catalan, Ignacio
Lejeune, Pierre ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Océanographie biologique
Parmentier, Eric ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Morphologie fonctionnelle et évolutive
Language :
English
Title :
An acoustic Odyssey: Characterisation of the vocal fish community inhabiting Neptune seagrass meadows across the Mediterranean Sea.
Publication date :
05 September 2019
Event name :
International Bioacoustics Congress
Event place :
Brighton, United Kingdom
Event date :
du 31 Août au 5 Septembre 2019
By request :
Yes
Audience :
International
References of the abstract :
Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) uses hydrophones to record all components of underwater soundscapes, including fish calls. Several studies have used PAM to investigate different aspects of vocal fish species, such as presence, distribution, relative abundance, diel, lunar and seasonal cycle of activity as well as for delimitating spawning areas and for studying wild fish spawning behaviour. A recent study conducted in Mediterranean rocky reefs has proved that the analysis of vocal fish communities provides high discrimination potential of species assemblages. Aside from this study, most investigations to date have considered fish species in isolation, and there is a general paucity of data addressing acoustic communication of fishes living in natural communities. We present a preliminary characterisation of vocal fish communities over a geographical and environmental gradient in Mediterranean Posidonia oceanica meadows and adjacent areas. We compared abundance and diversity of fish sounds recorded during the peak of fish vocal season in Posidonia oceanica meadows (-20 m) along a longitudinal axis (Mallorca, Corsica and Crete). These results are discussed in a framework that highlights the investment of different vocal fish species in partitioning their active acoustic space (in terms of both frequency and time) over small- and large-scale gradients. Our study supports the potential of PAM to provide high resolution information on fish population dynamics.
