INFLUENCING THE CALLING OF SEA ROBINS (PRIONOTUS SPP.) WITH SOUND

¹ Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine

1. A vibrant grunt and a staccato call of sea robins in the Woods Hole area are described. Sounds similar to these can be obtained by manipulation of the air bladder and by stimulation of the nerves to the drumming muscles.

2. It is suggested that the sea robin grunt is part of a general alarm reaction, and that the staccato call is related to the breeding behavior of the sea robin. It is suggested that the staccato call may serve as a species recognition device in waters where visibility is relatively poor.

3. A method of controlling production of the staccato call is described. Production of the call can be initiated by playing into the water imitations of the call and recordings of the call itself. The calling can be suppressed by playing of signals of 200 to 600 cps, and, less consistently, by playing of signals of 600 cps to 2 kc.

4. The results obtained furnish an exception to the general rule that sound production causes only quickened swimming movements of free fishes, and demonstrate the possibility of exercising some degree of control over the behavior of fishes in nature with man-made sounds.