What do fish hear?

Posted on by TheFishVet - Richmond's School of Fish
HEARING AND LATERAL LINE | Psychoacoustics: What Fishnext term Hear

R.R. Fay

Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

Available online 5 August 2011.

Abstract

The ears of all previous termfishesnext term function like accelerometers and respond to acoustic particle motion. Some species, in addition, have sensitivity to sound pressure via an otophysic connection between the ears and a bubble of gas in the body. All previous termfishesnext term can hear within a frequency range extending from below 50 Hz to as high as 5000 Hz for some species. Most species have a best sensitivity in the range from 100 to about 1000 Hz. All previous termfishesnext term can discriminate between different frequencies with moderate accuracy, and sound detection in all previous termfishesnext term is subject to masking, or interference by external noise.

Keywords: Auditory scene analysis; previous termFishnext term audiograms; previous termFishnext term hearing; Frequency discrimination; Frequency range of hearing; Hearing sensitivity; Masking; Otolith organ; Saccule; Soundscape; Swimbladder; Utricle

Audiogram A graphical representation of sound detection thresholds at the range of frequencies that are audible.
Auditory scene analysis A perceptual capacity shared by all vertebrates, including previous termfishes, to segregate and respond independently to the individual sound sources that may be active simultaneously (e.g., the instruments of an orchestra).
Masking The reduction in audibility for one sound (termed ‘signal’) caused by the simultaneous presence of another sound (termed ‘noise’). Masking causes the threshold for the signal to be higher (less detectable) than it normally would without the masking noise.
Otophysic connection An anatomical linkage between a gas bubble (e.g., the swimbladder) and the inner ear that brings the motions of the gas bubble, caused by sound pressure, directly to the ears.
Psychophysics A technology of experimental psychology designed to allow the investigation of the relationships between the physical nature of a stimulus (e.g., sound) and the sensations and perceptions caused by the stimulus.
Soundscape The sum of all the sounds characteristic of an environment.
Weberian ossicles A series of bones that is specially adapted as an otophysic connection between the swimbladder and the inner ear in a group of previous termfishes known as Otophysi.
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