QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online November 2, 2007
Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 3990-4004 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
doi: 10.1242/jeb.004390

This Article Summary Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Maruska, K. P. Articles by Tricas, T. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Maruska, K. P. Articles by Tricas, T. C.

Sound production and spectral hearing sensitivity in the Hawaiian sergeant damselfish, Abudefduf abdominalis

Karen P. Maruska^*, Kelly S. Boyle, Laura R. Dewan and Timothy C. Tricas

Department of Zoology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2538 The Mall, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA and Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, 46-007 Lilipuna Road, Kaneohe, HI 96744, USA

View larger version (15K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Lateral view of the inner ear and brain of the Hawaiian sergeant fish, Abudefduf abdominalis. The saccule and lagena are positioned beneath the brain and oriented in the dorso-ventral plane along the presumed primary axis of particle motion during auditory evoked potential experiments. The position of the sensory macula is outlined and shaded within each otolithic endorgan, while the removed left otolith is illustrated below (large arrows). Dashed lines represent the location of the crista ampullaris of each semicircular canal, and the dotted line represents the position of the macula neglecta (mn). A, asteriscus otolith of lagena; ac, anterior canal; CE, cerebellum; hc, horizontal canal; HYP, hypothalamus; L, lapillus otolith of utricle; M, medulla; pc, posterior canal; S, sagitta otolith of saccule; T, tectum; TEL, telencephalon. Scale bar, 1 mm.

View larger version (14K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Behaviors associated with sound production in the Hawaiian sergeant fish, Abudefduf abdominalis. (A) Nest preparation; males clean and prepare substrate adjacent to an existing nest (dotted circular area) and produce sounds when they scrape the substrate with their mouths, jaws and teeth. (B) Aggressive: males chase (arrow) both con- and heterospecific (e.g. egg-predator wrasse) intruders away from the nest area while producing short-pulse aggressive sounds. (C) Courtship–female-visit: males in blue nuptial coloration perform looping and zig-zag swims (solid arrow line) in the water column towards passing conspecific females. When a female follows the male back to the nest (broken arrow line), the courtship–female-visit sound is produced. Fish with a dotted outline in B and C represent the initial position, while fish with a solid outline represent the final position in the behavior sequence. Insets at the top left of A–C show example waveforms of sounds produced during each behavior. The recording hydrophone was positioned perpendicular to the plane of the page at about 1 m from the block spawning substrate. Scale bars, 100 ms.

View larger version (18K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Aggressive sounds produced by the Hawaiian sergeant fish, Abudefduf abdominalis. (A,B) Sonograms (top) and oscillograms (bottom) show an aggressive >2 pulse sound with four pulses and a 1–2 pulse sound with two short pulses with an interpulse interval of 100 ms. (C) Power spectra of the first pulse of the 2 pulse sound and second pulse of the 4 pulse sound show that both aggressive sound types are broadband, with peak energies of <1 kHz, without prominent harmonic intervals. Power spectra calculated by 128-point FFT (Hanning window). Spectral display settings are Hanning window, 128 point, 75% window width. (D) Aggressive 1–2 pulse sounds have shorter individual pulse and total sound durations compared to the >2 pulse sounds. Data are plotted as means ± s.e.m.

View larger version (10K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Relationship between number of pulses per sound and total sound duration for courtship–female-visit, nest preparation, aggressive 1–2 pulse and aggressive >2 pulse sounds produced by the Hawaiian sergeant fish, Abudefduf abdominalis. There is a positive linear relationship between pulse number and sound duration for all four sound types. Coefficient of determination (r2), linear regression statistics, sample sizes and line equations for each sound type are as follows: courtship–female-visit (r2=0.84, P<0.001, N=78, y=5.4x+1.3); nest preparation (r2=0.78, P<0.001, N=38, y=3.3x+1.6); aggressive 1–2 pulse (r2=0.22, P=0.02, N=26, y=2.1x+1.2); aggressive >2 pulse (r2=0.62, P<0.001, N=37, y=3.1x+2.4).

View larger version (23K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 5. Nest preparation sound produced by the Hawaiian sergeant fish, Abudefduf abdominalis. Sonogram (bottom) and oscillogram (middle) shows a train of eight individual pulses produced at regular intervals. Power spectrum (top left) of a single pulse (inset at top right) shows that nest preparation sounds are broadband, but with high energy components between 100 and 400 Hz. Power spectrum calculated by 128-point FFT (Hanning window). Spectral display settings are Hanning window, 128 point, 75% window width. Arrows on the single pulse show the beginning and end of the pulse to illustrate how pulse duration was measured.

View larger version (27K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 6. Courtship–female-visit sound produced by the Hawaiian sergeant fish, Abudefduf abdominalis. These sounds are composed of two pulse types: A and B. Sonogram and oscillogram (A) shows a train of pulses and a view of a single type A and type B pulse (inset). (B) Power spectra show that type A pulses are broadband without prominent harmonic intervals, while type B pulses have a pulse repetition rate of about 125 Hz with harmonic intervals up to 1 kHz. Power spectra calculated by 128 point FFT (Hanning window). Spectral display settings are Hanning window, 128 point, 75% window width. (C) Type A and B pulses are similar in the frequency domain, but type A pulses (filled circles) are much shorter in duration than type B pulses (open triangles).

View larger version (26K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 7. Example of an auditory evoked potential (AEP) at 125 Hz recorded from a female Hawaiian sergeant fish, Abudefduf abdominalis. Averaged AEP traces (bottom trace shows the stimulus waveform recorded by the hydrophone at the position of the fish head) (A) and FFT analysis (B) (1024 points) of the averaged response at five different stimulus intensities. Note that the peaks on the averaged AEP FFT histograms at 240–250 Hz are twice the frequency of the recorded stimulus waveform (125 Hz; bottom FFT). Threshold for this fish was 122 dBrms re: 1 µPa at this frequency.

View larger version (8K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 8. Hearing thresholds of the Hawaiian sergeant fish Abudefduf abdominalis by sex and reproductive season. Audiograms during spawning and non-spawning seasons for males (A) and for females (B). A. abdominalis is most sensitive from 95 to 240 Hz and there was no difference in hearing sensitivity among sexes or seasons. Data are plotted as means ± s.d. (N=6 for each).

View larger version (21K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 9. Auditory sensitivity matches sound production in the frequency domain during social behaviors in the Hawaiian sergeant fish, Abudefduf abdominalis. Audiogram (filled circles) is plotted together with power spectra of A and B pulses of the courtship–female-visit, nest preparation and aggressive (1–2 pulse and >2 pulse) sounds. The greatest energy of all sounds is concentrated from about 100 to 400 Hz, and the region of greatest hearing sensitivity is from 95 to 240 Hz. Threshold data are plotted as means ± s.d. of SPL dBrms re: 1 µPa (left axis) for all fish pooled (N=24). Power spectra of individual sounds were calculated by 128 point FFT (Hanning window) and are plotted as relative amplitude in dB (right axis).