Acoustic communication in Pomatoschistus spp.: a comparison between closely related species.

Many vertebrates, including teleosts, rely on acoustic signals for communication (Myrberg and Lugli 2006 ) . Sound production has been documented in four species of sand gobies ( Pomatoschistus ). Males of the sand ( P. minutus ), marbled ( P. marmoratus ), and canestrini ( P. canestrinii ) gobies produce low-frequency pulsed sounds when females enter the nest (Lugli and Torricelli 1999 ) . The male painted goby ( P. pictus ) also produces similar drumming sounds outside the nest during courtship (Amorim and Neves 2007 ) . These drumming sounds present interspecific differences, suggesting that they could potentially be used in species-specific recognition (see Table 1 ). Noise in the aquatic environment has significantly increased due to anthropogenic causes such as shipping (e.g., Smith et al. 2006 ) . This increase in noise level may impair the detection of sound required for fish to communicate acoustically (Amoser et al. 2004 ) . To better understand whether acoustic communication is impaired due to increased aquatic anthropogenic noise, studies regarding species vocal behavior and detailed analysis of sound parameters are required. Several studies have been carried out on acoustic communication in gobies (Myrberg and Lugli 2006 ) ; however, prespawning sounds have not been described for P. pictus and P. microps . We investigated the acoustic repertoire of P. pictus and, for the first time, the vocal behavior of P. microps . Acoustic Communication in Pomatoschistus spp.: A Comparison Between Closely Related Species