It may sound quiet to human ears, but beneath the water the oceans are alive with the sound of talking fish.
That’s the discovery of marine scientist Shahriman M. Ghazali from the University of Auckland. He says certain kinds of fish talk to each other using popping, growling and grunting noises.
“All fish can hear, but not all can make sound – pops and other sounds made by vibrating their swim bladder, a muscle they can contract,” Mr. Ghazali said in an interview with the New Zealand Herald.
The fish make the sounds for a number of reasons. Sometimes, they are attempting to attract a mate. Other times, they are trying to scare off predators. In the case of the damsel fish, vocalizations are used to keep divers at bay, Mr. Ghazali said.
According to his research, the most talkative fish is the gurnard, which spends most of its time talking. The cod fish, on the other hand, stays mostly quiet unless it is spawning.
Mr. Ghazali studied the fish by placing them in tanks and allowing them to acclimate for a few weeks. He then used instruments to measure vibrations in the water. Once he determined the fish were “speaking,” he attempted to figure out what they we were trying to communicate.
Mr. Ghazali will be presenting his research this week at the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society conference.