Loud orgies of Mexican fish could deafen dolphins, say scientists

Mating call of the Gulf corvina, which is under threat from overfishing, sounds like ‘a really loud machine gun’

Agence France-Presse
Tue 19 Dec 2017 21.21 EST Last modified on Wed 14 Feb 2018 12.04 EST


The sound level is so high it can lead to temporary or permanent hearing loss in dolphins and other marine mammals Photograph: Daniel Murphy/The Wildlife Trust/PA

A species of Mexican fish amasses in reproductive orgies so loud they can deafen other sea animals, awed scientists have said, calling for preservation of the “spectacle” threatened by overfishing.

An individual spawning Gulf corvina, say the researchers, utters a mating call resembling “a really loud machine gun” with multiple rapid sound pulses.

And when hundreds of thousands of fish get together to spawn once a year “the collective chorus sounds like a crowd cheering at a stadium or perhaps a really loud beehive”, said study co-author Timothy Rowell from the University of San Diego.

“The sound levels generated by chorusing is loud enough to cause at least temporary if not permanent hearing loss in marine mammals that were observed preying on the fish.

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