Hearing-specialist fish evolved in quiet waters and suffer heavy masking in noisy ones

Evidence

In fish communities there are species considered specialists with enhanced auditory sensitivity and broad frequency ranges and non-specialists (or generalists) that do not have such characters. Specialists seem have evolved in quiet habitats such as the deep sea, lakes, backwaters of rivers, and slowly flowing streams. This hypothesis has been confirmed after an experimentation conducted by Amoser and Ladich (2005) in four different freshwater habitats near Vienna, Austria (Danube River, Triesting stream, Lake Neusiedl, backwaters of the Danube River). The sonic signature of these aquatic systems were played back to an hearing specialist, the common carp (Cyprinus carpio), and a hearing generalist, the European perch (Perca fluviatilis). Results have confirmed that carp hearing is only partially masked by a quiet sonic environment (mean threshold, 9 dB) but is heavily masked by stream and river noise by up 49 dB in the hearing range 0.5–1.0 kHz. In contrast, perch auditory capacity is not impacted by the noise of all habitats. — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 1347

Categorization

• XREF: Directly extends the book’s ch25 theme that natural habitat noise shapes communication; also feeds the acoustic-index methods framework as aquatic masking differs by auditory specialization. — connects to: Each marine noise source occupies a characteristic frequency band at a measurable distance — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 1331; Organisms adapt to natural noise but suffer stress from anthropogenic noise — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 1275; Noise harms hearing-dependent wildlife more than visual species like peregrines — Gordon Hempton, John Grossmann, One Square Inch of Silence- One Man’s…, 691 (+5 more)
• CANDY: The compact asymmetry — carp masked up to 49 dB in rivers while perch unaffected by all habitats — is a crisp, tweetable contrast.

Broader Connections

• Sudden modern noise gives species no evolutionary time to adapt #expands (0.85) — Gordon Hempton, John Grossmann, One Square Inch of Silence- One Man’s…, 915
• Noise harms hearing-dependent wildlife more than visual species like peregrines #expands (0.82) — Gordon Hempton, John Grossmann, One Square Inch of Silence- One Man’s…, 691
• Wider auditory filters admit excess noise that fully obscures high-frequency formants #complicates (0.78) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 574
• Manatees respond to high ambient noise by feeding more and milling less #exemplifies (0.75) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 1358
• Wider auditory filters and steeper cochlear compression reduce noise-induced hearing loss. #contradicts (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5902