Here in our lab, we investigate the role of sound in marine ecosystems.
Our lab studies sound as a fundamental component of marine life. We investigate acoustic communication, hearing, behavior, and physiology across a diversity of marine organisms, with a strong focus on fishes and marine soundscapes.
Using behavioral, physiological, and ecological approaches, we address how sound mediates social interactions and ecological processes, and how anthropogenic noise alters these dynamics, affecting behavior, sensory function, and fitness.
Our research integrates laboratory and field experiments and is supported by national and international collaborations.
Hot topics in our lab
Underwater sound
Sound is transmitted faster and at greater distances in water than in air, being used by most marine species.
Animal sounds
Several species produce sounds in contexts such as courtship, or competition and may rely on acoustic communication for successful breeding.
Soundscape
We use passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) to characterize and monitor the acoustic environment.
Physiology
We study hormonal modulation of acoustic behaviour, mechanisms of sound production, hearing, effects of background sounds in hearing, including conspecific signals and anthropogenic noise.
Behaviour
We study of the role of acoustic communication in mediating social interactions, including fish male-male assessment, female mate choice and reproductive success.
Methodologies
Our methods include recording and analyzing animal-produced sounds, playback experiments, and electrophysiological and electromyographic techniques.
What We Study
Behaviour
We investigate how acoustic communication mediates social interactions in fishes and other marine organisms. Our research addresses the role of sound in male–male assessment, mate choice, and reproductive success, as well as communication in choruses and the spatial range over which signals operate.
We are also interested in multimodal communication, sensory integration, and the development (ontogeny) of vocal behaviour.
Physiology
Our physiological research focuses on the mechanisms underlying sound production and hearing, from peripheral sensory systems to central auditory pathways. We examine hormonal modulation of acoustic behaviour, the development of auditory function, and temporal processing in the auditory system.
A key component of this work is understanding how background sounds—including conspecific signals and anthropogenic noise—affect auditory sensitivity and neural processing.
Underwater Soundscape Ecology
We study marine soundscapes to understand how natural and human-generated sounds influence aquatic life. Our research examines how anthropogenic noise affects signal perception, social interactions, reproductive success, and early development.
We also use passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) to characterize marine environments and track biological and ecological processes over time.
Anthropogenic Noise
We investigate the characteristics of anthropogenic noise in aquatic environments and its effects on marine organisms. Our research combines acoustic measurements with experimental approaches to quantify noise levels, temporal patterns, and spectral features across natural and human-altered soundscapes.
We experimentally test how noise influences sound detection, communication, behavior, physiology, and fitness-related traits, using both controlled laboratory exposures and field-based studies.
Computational Bioacoustics
Our research integrates machine learning and artificial intelligence to analyze large acoustic datasets from laboratory and field recordings. We use data-driven approaches to automatically detect, classify, and interpret biological and anthropogenic sounds within complex marine soundscapes.
These methods include probabilistic models and deep learning techniques, such as hidden Markov models (HMMs) and convolutional neural networks (CNNs), which allow us to quantify acoustic behavior, monitor soundscape dynamics, and assess the impacts of noise at spatial and temporal scales not accessible through manual analyses.
Main Methodologies
Methodologies include recording and analysis of sounds produced by fish, playback experiments to study the function of acoustic signals, the use of electrophysiological techniques to estimate auditory capabilities, and the recording of electromyograms of sonic muscles.
Our lab has developed several prototypes such as the Fish Talk (a device capable of reproducing low frequency and fast transient fish sounds accurately) that has allowed us to carry out playback experiments with fish, and a low-cost hydrophone, allowing monitoring several individual toadfish simultaneously in the field.
