Fishy noises

Tusks seem to have the greatest need to communicate and they are the loudest, although codfish also make quite a commotion with their sounds. The fish make sounds using the muscles in their air bladder, and they are loudest when looking for a mate or spawning.

Meanwhile, fish also use sound to scare off enemies, to mark their territories and to warn others when danger threatens. Each species has its own sounds, and the fish can hear the difference in sounds made by other species. Maybe they even use sound to say hello to each other? Killer whales are mammals, and they also make sounds. ’Norwegian’ killer whales make sounds that differ from those made by animals that live in other parts of the world – almost as though they speak their own language.

Herring make strange farting sounds at night. Researchers think the fish communicate with each other by squeezing little air bubbles out of their bottoms. Or maybe that is just a very smart way of scaring away the other fish?

Listen to the sounds on the Internet:

www.imr.no/visste_du/om_biologisk_lyd/lydeksempler
www.zoology.ubc.ca/%7Ebwilson/herring.html (herring fart)

Published in 'Nysgjerrigper' no. 2/08

Translated by Linda Sivesind