Sound Detection Mechanisms and Capabilities of Teleost Fishes

Abstract

This chapter, written from the perspective of four authors who have been studying fish bioacoustics for over 120 years (cumulative!), examines the major issues of the field. Each topic is put in some historical perspective, but the chapter emphasizes current thinking about acoustic communication, hearing (including bandwidth, sensitivity, detection of signals in noise, discrimination, and sound source localization), the functions of the ear (both auditory and vestibular, and including the role(s) of the otoliths and sensory hair cells) and their relationships to peripheral structures such as the swim bladder, and the interactions between the ear and the lateral line. Hearing in fishes is not only for acoustic communication and detection of sound-emitting predators and prey but can also play a major role in telling fishes about the acoustic scene at distances well beyond the range of vision. The chapter concludes with the personal views of the authors as to the major challenges and questions for future study. There are still many gaps in our knowledge of fish bioacoustics, including questions on ear function and the significance of interspecific differences in otolith size and shape and hair cell orientation, the role of the lateral line vis-a-vis the ear, the mechanisms of central processing of acoustic (and lateral line) signals, the mechanisms of sound source localization and whether fishes can determine source distance as well as direction, the evolution and functional significance of hearing specializations in taxonomically diverse fish species, and the origins of fish (and vertebrate) hearing and hearing organs.