Exploring potential fish sound producers in Polynesian lower mesophotic coral reefs

Mesophotic coral reefs host unique fish assemblages and highly diverse biological sounds. However, many of the sources of these sounds remain unknown. The objectives of this study are to identify, based on the literature, the soniferous fish species present in the deep part of mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) in French Polynesia; and to infer the sounds produced by the species present to link them with previously recorded sounds. A total of 39 fish families through to produce sounds were found to be possibly present at 120 m depth. This list includes well-known families such as Serranidae and Ophidiidae. The most abundant sound recorded in Polynesian mesophotic reefs exhibits similarities to sounds produced by Mediterranean Scorpaena species (Scorpaenidae), a genus also present in Polynesian MCEs. This study provides initial insights into which soniferous fish taxa are present in Polynesian MCEs.