c est ma Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 ( http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20070623/note16.asp --probably only available to subscribers) Science News Online Week of June 23, 2007; Vol. 171, No. 25 Clownfish noisemaker is new to science Susan Milius Researchers have figured out how clownfish make "pop-pop-pop" noises at each other. The secret turns out to be an unusual tooth-clacking mechanism that scientists had never before documented. Plenty of fishes make noises, explains Eric Parmentier of the University of Liège in Belgium. Most species either scrape bones together or vibrate air-filled swim bladders. Those mechanisms don't generate sound with the right frequencies or other qualities to explain the noises of the clownfish Amphiprion clarkii, says Parmentier. These striped reef fish chirp or pop during courtship or daily life around the reef, or when an intruder looms. To study the sounds in that last scenario, Parmentier and his colleagues worked with Michael Fine of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. The lab team combined a high-speed video camera with X-ray equipment and recorded the fish's bone movements at 500 frames per second, 20 times the speed of a typical movie. When a male clownfish sees an intruder, he opens his jaws and then lifts his head, causing unusual ligaments to snap the jaws shut. The popping sound comes from the front teeth smacking together. The researchers tested the idea by sabotaging the ligament. When its jaw couldn't snap shut, the fish was mute, they report in the May 18 Science. Fish have evolved diverse ways of making sound, says Parmentier, and he predicts that the cichlids that he's studying now use yet another mechanism. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have a comment on this article that you would like considered for publication in Science News, send it to editors@sciencenews.org. Please include your name and location. References: Parmentier, E. . . . M.L. Fine, et al. 2007. Sound production in the clownfish Amphiprion clarkii. Science 316(May 18):1006. Abstract available at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/316/5827/1006. Sources: Michael Fine Department of Biology Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA 23284–2012 Eric Parmentier Laboratoire de Morphologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive Institut de Chimie Bâtiment B6 Université de Liège B-4000 Liège Belgium http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20070623/note16.asp From Science News, Vol. 171, No. 25, June 23, 2007, p. 398. Copyright © 2007 Science Service. All rights reserved. Link to comment
BustytheSnowMaam Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 My husband and I have both heard our clownfish "chirp" to each other, anyone else heard this? Link to comment
MDeth Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 Nope but I've only had false percs Link to comment
dshnarw Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 Nope but I've only had false percs They do it too. We had a pair that chirped when they wanted food. Link to comment
St-Craft Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 Almost every night i was earing that sound.. took 1month to figure it was my clown (saddleblack back) Link to comment
dshnarw Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 How delightful! Thanks for the article, btw. Nice read. I swear, you must be a walking encyclopedia! Link to comment
MDeth Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Booo! I wish we would have kept that pair longer...I knew there was a reason not to trade them for coral! Damn g/f can't take a clownfish nibble Link to comment
travisurfer Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 very interesting. thanks. Link to comment
yardboy Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 I had a tomato clown that was in a tank I treated with Melafix (Coral Beauty injured) and he evermore freaked out over the treatment, clicking and clacking for several minutes. It didn't hurt him though, and cured the coral beauty. Link to comment
c est ma Posted July 7, 2007 Author Share Posted July 7, 2007 I wonder if the scientists are aware of non-territorial vocalizations like that? BTW, what sort of treatment is Melafix...i.e., any idea why it upset the clown? --Diane Link to comment
Obsessed Reefer Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 So that's what that noise was. When I first started hearing it, I though it was a mantis or something, but it didnt sound like banging, and I closely inspected the rock for the next few nights with a LED, and saw nothing. Then it stopped when I traded my clown to the lfs, never connected with me in my head. But hey, its summer, I'm not supposed to think a lot. Link to comment
yardboy Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 I wonder if the scientists are aware of non-territorial vocalizations like that? BTW, what sort of treatment is Melafix...i.e., any idea why it upset the clown? --Diane Melafix is a treatment for marine ich and infections made from the Australian Tea Tree. Very aromatic. My coral beauty had a hole in his side you could see his bones through, cured him in a matter of days, and today 4 years later, not even an irregularity in his scale pattern. Worked well in that case, but ####ed the tomato clown off!!!!! Link to comment
c est ma Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 That is so interesting! Someone even pm'd me a link to a description of it. I'm glad to learn of this--guess you can tell I don't have much marine fish experience. Now one wants to know just what does and what does not elicit this behavior in clownfish...Anyone need a thesis topic? --Diane Link to comment
ezcompany Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 learned something new as well! i always thought it was a imaginary pistol shrimp! funny thing is they only do it at night though? (true percs) Link to comment
Blacktone Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 They made the clown mute! Now he can't pop lock and drop it. Link to comment
bluesky Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 very interesting article. thanks for sharing. too bad my pump and fans are too loud for me to hear what noise my clown is making ... guess I need get a new tank to hear that. Link to comment
c est ma Posted July 24, 2007 Author Share Posted July 24, 2007 They made the clown mute! Now he can't pop lock and drop it. Research sometimes isn't pretty... I thought the verb used was interesting: "the researchers tested the idea by sabotaging the ligament..." Sabotaging? Is that a common research and/or medical term? And I'll bet the fish didn't even get paid for taking part... Link to comment
davenia7 Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 And here I thought I had a hidden pistol... Now maybe.... it could be Dale Jr. & Danica (osc. pair) But, they're only 8 months old... aren't they a little young? Link to comment
c est ma Posted July 24, 2007 Author Share Posted July 24, 2007 Don't know specifically about clowns, but in practically every animal I've kept the males reach sexual maturity before the females... Link to comment
bradarmi Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Funny, I have been away for a while and said "I'll post this when I get back"..looks like someone beat me to it. In any case, my lab wishes we had a microphone near the nano..we could have published in Science, lol Oh well maybe another time Link to comment
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