New article titled "Characterization of the fish acoustic communities in a Mozambican tropical coral reef" has been published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.
Coral reefs are biodiversity hotspots that urgently require our protection in most tropical areas. The increasing local anthropogenic pressures and climate change are calling for action. Did you know that sounds produced by fishes play a crucial role in the vibrant soundscapes of these ecosystems? That's where passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) comes in, as it can be an effective tool for mapping the presence of target species and estimating changes in biodiversity. 🐠🌊
Get ready for an incredible journey because this study's mission was to identify the sound-producing fishes in Mozambican coral reefs (based on the literature) and to create a catalog of putative fish sound types (recorded in situ).
At these coral reefs, we've uncovered 183 potentially soniferous species and 29 confirmed soniferous species with characterized sound production. And that's not all! 🎵 By using acoustic recordings from coral reefs near Mozambique Island in March-April 2017 and 2018, we've identified a total of 47 unique fish sound types (and certaintly there are much more! How fascinating! 🎶). But wait, there's more! Through additional video recordings, we've successfully identified 4 sound-producing species: Chromis weberi, Dascyllus trimaculatus, Amphiprion akallopisos, and A. latifasciatus. Check the videos here!
This study has created the first fish sound library for Western Indian Ocean coral reefs. 🐟📚
And that's not all – we're diving deeper into how these innovative methodologies can provide essential baseline knowledge to acoustically monitor marine habitats like coral reefs. The potential is huge! Let's pave the way to using sounds either to assess changes in single-fish species or in the overral reef fish biodiversity. What an exciting time to be exploring the underwater world! 🌟🌊
Reference: Puebla-Aparicio, M., Ascencio-Elizondo, C., Vieira, M., Amorim, M.C.P., Duarte, R., Fonseca, P.J. (2024). Characterization of the fish acoustic communities in a Mozambican tropical coral reef. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 14450. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14450