Fish Have 'Talked' For 155 Million Years, And Now You Can Hear Their 'Voices' [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Catfish in a pond. (Sutthiwat Srikhrueadam/Moment/Getty Images)

TESSA KOUMOUNDOUROS5 FEBRUARY 2022

All manner of croaks, chirps, and deep trombone moans permeate Earth's waters, just like the cacophony of sounds that fill its forest air. For example, reefs are surprisingly noisy places, and many of the noisemakers are fish.

"We've known for a long time that some fish make sounds, but fish sounds were always perceived as rare oddities,'' said Cornell University ecologist Aaron Rice.

It was likely assumed fish relied primarily on other means of communication, from color signals and body language to electricity. But recent discoveries have demonstrated fish even have dawn and dusk choruses, just like birds.

"They've probably been overlooked because fishes are not easily heard or seen, and the science of underwater acoustic communication has primarily focused on whales and dolphins," said Cornell evolutionary neuroscientist Andrew Bass.

"But fishes have voices too."

And some sound like the most magnificent foghorn:

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More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/fish-have-been-talking-with-delightfully-strange-sounds-for-at-least-155-million-years