Clara

Amorim

Personal Profile

Since my PhD with Tony Hawkins (at University of Aberdeen) I have been mainly interested in studying acoustic communication in fish focussing on how acoustic signals mediate social interactions and promote reproductive isolation. I am also interested in the role of acoustic signals in a context of multi-modal and cross-modal communication. Recently I have started to address the impact of anthropogenic noise on marine soundscape and on fish fitness + vocal communication.

2018 – 2021 – FishNoise: Impact of anthropogenic noise on fish fitness PTDC/BIA-BMA/29662/2017.
Assessing how anthropogenic noise (e.g., boat traffic) affects behaviour, reproductive success, early development and survival in vocal fishes (Halobatrachus didactylus and Argyrosomus regius) using field and laboratory approaches. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia / FEDER. Research Team: Maria Clara P. Amorim (PI), Paulo J. Fonseca, Manuel Vieira, Marta Bolgan, Ana F. Faria, Beatriz P. Pereira, Thibaut Marin-Cudraz, André Matos, Rita Trabulo, Gabriela Meireles, Sara C. Novais, Marco F.L. Lemos,Teresa Modesto and others.
2018 – 2020 – MIGRACORV: Integrated approach to study the movement dynamics of the meagre（Argyrosomus regius) PTDC/BIA-BMA/30517/2017.
Interdisciplinary investigation into movement patterns and estuarine use of meagre across its distribution, including acoustics, tagging and ecological markers. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. Research Team: Maria Clara P. Amorim (investigator), Bernardo R. Quintella (PI), Paulo J. Fonseca and others.
2018 – 2020 – SONICINVADERS: Sound Invasion – Detecting invasive fish in freshwater ecosystems with passive acoustics PTDC/CTA-AMB/28782/17.
Exploring passive acoustic methods to detect and monitor invasive fish species in freshwater environments, as a tool for early invasion detection. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. Research Team: Filipe Ribeiro (PI), Maria Clara P. Amorim (Co-IR), Paulo J. Fonseca, among others.
2012 – 2015 – Role of acoustic signals in mate choice and male-male assessment in a strongly-vocal fish, Halobatrachus didactylus PTDC/MAR/118767/2010 (FCT strategic project).
Investigating how acoustic communication influences mate choice and social interactions in the Lusitanian toadfish. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (via PTCRIS and related strategic funds). Research Team: Maria Clara P. Amorim (PI), Paulo J. Fonseca and others.

SELECTED RESEARCH PROJECTS

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Vasconcelos, R. O., Bolgan, M., Matos, A., Van-Dunem, S., Penim, J., Amorim, M. C. P. (2024) Characterization of the vocal behavior of the miniature and transparent Danionella cerebrum (Cyprinidae). The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 155. doi: 10.1063/5.0045281.
Wang, W., Turco, T., Fonseca, P. J., Vasconcelos, R. O., Coureaud, G., Amorim, M. C. P., Beauchaud, M. (2023) Chronic Boat Noise Impacts on the Early Life Stages of Cichlids (Maylandia zebra): Preliminary Findings. In: Popper, A.N., Sisneros, J., Hawkins, A.D., Thomsen, F. (eds) The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life. Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-10417-6_179-1.
de Jong K., Amorim M.C.P., Fonseca P.J., Fox C.J., Heubel K.U. (2018). Noise can affect acoustic communication and subsequent spawning success in fish. Environmental Pollution, 237, 814-823. doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.11.003
Amorim, M.C.P., Vieira, M., Meireles, G., Novais, S.C., Lemos, M.F.L., Modesto, T., Alves, D., Zuazu, A., Lopes, A.F., Matos, A.B., & Fonseca, P.J. (2022) Boat noise impacts Lusitanian toadfish breeding males and reproductive outcome. Science of The Total Environment, 830, 154735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154735.
Amorim, M. (2023). The role of acoustic signals in fish reproduction. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 154(5), 2959-2973. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0022353
Amorim M.C.P., Vasconcelos R.O., Fonseca P.J. (2015). Fish sounds and mate choice. In: Sound communication in fishes. Animal Signals and Communication, Vol. 4. Ladich, F. (ed.). Springer-Verlag, Wien, pp 1-3