Similar to a motorcycle: This mini fish is as loud as an airplane

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A fish about a centimeter in size can produce a sound similar to that of a jet engine when an airplane takes off. The transparent fish of the species Danionella cerebrum have a sound-producing device that can reach more than 140 decibels.

They probably use the sounds to communicate with other species in cloudy water, the Senckenberg Society for Natural Research reported on Tuesday in Dresden (D). An international research team studied the fish native to Myanmar’s shallow and murky waters using a combination of high-speed video, micro-computed tomography, gene expression analysis and mathematical methods. It was shown that the males of the Danionella species have a unique sound-producing apparatus, including a tympanic cartilage, a special rib and a fatigue-resistant muscle.

Competition between men

This device accelerates the tympanic cartilage with significant force and “shoots it toward the swim bladder to generate a rapid, loud impulse,” explains Senckenberg researcher Ralf Britz. When strung together, these impulses produce calls. The experts believe that competition between males in a visually impaired environment contributed to the development of this special mechanism.

The 140 decibels this creates is comparable to the volume someone feels when an airplane takes off a hundred meters away. Other animals can be loud too. The sound that the pistol crab produces with its scissors is up to 250 decibels loud.

The mating sounds of the flightless kakapo reach 130 decibels, and elephants with their trunks reach volumes of up to 125 decibels. The male boatswain fish also attracts its females with an audible vibrato of approximately 100 hertz and 130 decibels. The study appeared in the journal PNAS. (SDA)

Source: Blick