Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2003
Journal/Book/Conference Title
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Volume
114
Issue
1
First Page
512
Last Page
521
DOI of Original Publication
10.1121/1.1577561
Date of Submission
May 2015
Abstract
Noise is an important theoretical constraint on the evolution of signal form and sensory performance. In order to determine environmental constraints on the communication of two freshwater gobies Padogobius martensii and Gobius nigricans, numerous noise spectra weremeasured from quiet areas and ones adjacent to waterfalls and rapids in two shallow stony streams. Propagation of goby sounds and waterfall noise was also measured. A quiet window around 100 Hz is present in many noise spectra from noisy locations. The window lies between two noise sources, a low-frequency one attributed to turbulence, and a high-frequency one (200–500 Hz) attributed to bubble noise from water breaking the surface. Ambient noise from a waterfall (frequencies below 1 kHz) attenuates as much as 30 dB between 1 and 2 m, after which values are variable without further attenuation (i.e., buried in the noise floor). Similarly, courtship sounds of P. martensii attenuate as much as 30 dB between 5 and 50 cm. Since gobies are known to court in noisy as well as quiet locations in these streams, their acoustic communication system (sounds and auditory system) must be able to cope with short-range propagation dictated by shallow depths and ambient noise in noisy locations.
Rights
Copyright (2003) Acoustical Society of America. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the Acoustical Society of America. The following article appeared in J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 114, 512 (2003) and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.1577561.
Is Part Of
VCU Biology Publications
Comments
Part of this work was presented in ‘‘Environmental constraints on the acoustic communication system of stream gobies,’’ Extended Abstract in Bioacoustics, special issue of the symposium: Fish Bioacoustics: Sensory Biology, Behavior, and Practical Applications, Evanston, IL, 30 May–2 June 2001.
The following article appeared in J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 114, 512 (2003) and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.1577561.