Full Description

"The variety of sounds produced in any given behavioral situation indicates that there is no clear association between a given type of activity and the sound produced."

"Males of the northern midshipman, Porichthys notatus emit sounds that can be characterized as irregular grunts, trains of regularly spaced grunts and buzzes. The grunts contain their maximum amplitude in a band from 85-600 cps with a possible fundamental just below 85 cps. The buzzes contain frequencies from 85 cps to 1kc. Some buzzes have a well defined fundamental at approximately 85 cps. In others, the fundamental varies between 150 and 250 cps."

"Each contraction is associated with a pulse of sound. The variety of sounds produced in any given behavioral situation indicates that there is no clear association between a given type of activity and the sound produced."

"The signal contains its maximum amplitude in a band from approximately 85 cps to about 600 cps. Above this frequency, the sound rapidly diminishes in amplitude and may sometimes reach 2.5 kc. There is a suggestion of harmonics, with the fundamental at the lower frequencies. It is possible that the real fundamental is below 85cps in some calls because the top of a band is seen just at 85 cps. In ten of the sounds, pulses were barely discernible. They varied from four to nine pulses, with five and six the most common. The duration of each pulse varied from 61-110 ms with an average of 77 ms."

"These isolated grunts were emitted irregularly except in a few instances."

"The total duration of trains of grunts with regular intervals ranged from 44.6- 120.8 seconds. The intervals between grunts averaged from 0.75-0.96 seconds in the five series."

"During the same field recording of 22.2 minutes mentioned above, seven buzz-like sounds were recorded. Their duration is longer than single grunts, ranging from 1.0-3.3 seconds. The sonogram in figure 1 shows the buzz to consist of a regularly spaced series of pulses which are farther apart than in grunts and contain frequencies from at least 85 cps to 1 kc. A faintly discernible fundamental is centered variably between 150 and 250 cps and several harmonics can be seen in figure 1. Many calls had a fundamental clearly centered at 85 cps or slightly below. Frequencies of reduced amplitude can be resolved up to 1.5 kc."

"Results of the analyses of 20 of these sounds produced from one fish held three feet below the surface and two feet above the bottom, in the bay near where the fish were collected are as follows. The number of pulses varied from 4-19 with an average of 6.8. The duration varied from 44-192 ms with an average of 79.7 ms. Frequencies often went up to 2.3 kc with the area of greatest amplitude below 1 kc. Harmonics were evident in many calls, with fundamentals centered between 120 and 180 cps. The first two pulses often had a different distribution of amplitudes and the last pulse was frequently of lowered amplitude."

"The number of pulses and duration of the sounds of a handheld fish in a five gallon plastic bucket were similar to the handheld sounds recorded in the field as seen in figure 1."

"Fundamentals that can be seen were centered at 175-200 cps with harmonics centered at 125-150 cps intervals."

"Grunts evoked by prodding a male guarding eggs in an aquarium were similar to handheld sounds but longer in duration. The number of pulses ranged from 8-34 with an average of 18.8 pulses. The duration ranged from 76-284 ms with an average of 160 ms."

"The overall average frequency of the potentials was 149 per second with a range of 93-227 per second. There were differences between individuals, with averages varying between 126 and 160 per second."

Observation Environment Quotes

"Sounds were recorded in the laboratory from undisturbed fish kept either in plastic buckets or in glass aquaria 60 X 30 X 30 cm. Sound recordings were also obtained in the field during the height of the reproductive season"

Behaviour Description Quotes

"The variety of sounds produced in any given behavioral situation indicates that there is no clear association between a given type of activity and the sound produced. "

" Electrical recordings were obtained by puncturing the sacculus with the tip of a sharpened stainless steel or tungsten electrode at the region indicated by the arrow in figure 3."

" More than 75% of the males produced sounds when disturbed during capture or when handheld in the air. "

"The sounds recorded over a large population of individuals during reproductive activities were quite variable."

Sound Name Quotes

"Males of the northern midshipman, Porichthys notatus emit sounds that can be characterized as irregular grunts, trains of regularly spaced grunts and buzzes. The grunts contain their maximum amplitude in a band from 85-600 cps with a possible fundamental just below 85 cps. The buzzes contain frequencies from 85 cps to 1kc. Some buzzes have a well defined fundamental at approximately 85 cps. In others, the fundamental varies between 150 and 250 cps. "

"Each contraction is associated with a pulse of sound. The variety of sounds produced in any given behavioral situation indicates that there is no clear association between a given type of activity and the sound produced."