Each spring, over a million fish migrate to a small patch of the Gulf of California to spawn. Now—thanks to new research by Brad Erisman at the University of Texas at Austin's Marine Science Institute and his colleagues published in the journal Biology Letters—we know that the Gulf corvina are the loudest known fish on the planet.
Together, these fish produce sounds as loud as 202 decibels, louder than a chainsaw and easily loud enough to damage human ears. Earlier this year, the researchers published a method for estimating the number of fish in a spawning aggregation based on the intensity of mating calls, which could become an important tool for conservation. The Gulf corvina appear to be declining due to overfishing.
"Lots of fishes are heavily exploited and endangered because of this amazing behavior where they come together to spawn, which makes them extremely vulnerable," Erisman was quoted as saying in an article by Scientific American.
Read more about this work:
Washington Post: Biologists record the machine-gun sound of the loudest known fish
Newsweek: Fish Sex Sounds Like Machine Guns and Is So Loud It Deafens Dolphins
Scientific American: Massive Fish Orgy Produces One of the Loudest Noises Under the Sea
Gizmodo: The World's Loudest Fish Is Now a Victim of Its Own Unique Talent
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