Full Description

"Maximal sound production of captive S. ocellatus occurred when the photoperiod shifted from 13·0 to 12·5 h of light, and the water temperature decreased to c. 25_ C. These captive settings are similar to the amount of daylight and water temperatures observed during the autumn, which is the primary spawning period for S. ocellatus."Sciaenops ocellatus exhibited daily patterns of calling with peak sound production occurring in the evenings between 0·50 h before dark and 1·08 h after dark. Spawning occurred only on evenings in which S. ocellatus were calling, and spawning was more productive when S. ocellatus produced more calls with longer durations and more pulses. This study provides ample evidence that sound production equates to spawning in captive S. ocellatus when calls are longer than 0·8 s and contain more than seven pulses."

"Guest & Lasswell (1978) observed that drumming and nudging in captive S. ocellatus intensified prior to spawning."

"Guest & Lasswell (1978) were the first to show that male S. ocellatus produce a drumming sound associated with courtship and spawning. Through laboratory experiments, Parmentier et al. (2014) have demonstrated that sound production occurs only in male S. ocellatus."

"The highest received SPLs for tanks 1–4 were 148 (i.e. 56 calls detected), 145 (i.e. 66 calls detected), 140 (i.e. 45 calls detected) and 143 (i.e. 53 calls detected) dB re 1 _Pa, respectively."Sciaenops ocellatus held in captivity produced one distinct call type, which consisted of a repetitive drumming sound. These calls varied in the number of pulses and overall duration (Fig. 1). The number of pulses in a call varied from two to 29 with a range in call duration of 0·19–3·53 s (Table II). The call frequency ranged from 50 to 2000 Hz; however, most acoustic energy occurred between 50 and 300 Hz (Fig. 1). Increased calling led to higher average SPLs, and the number of calls produced correlated positively with SPL in all tanks (Pearson correlation test; P < 0·001; r = 0·919 for tank 1; r = 0·941 for tank 2; r = 0·608 for tank 3; r = 0·829 for tank 4; Fig. 2)."

"Third, photoperiod and temperature adjustments affected sound production. Generally, maximal sound production of captive S. ocellatus occurred when the photoperiod was set to 12·5L:11·5D, and the water temperature decreased to c. 25_ C (Fig. 3)."

"Sciaenops ocellatus exhibited daily patterns of calling (Table III and Fig. 4)."

"On average, peak sound production occurred sometime between 0·50 h before dark and 1·08 h after dark (Table III)."

"Sciaenops ocellatus did produce sound without a corresponding spawn, but spawning never occurred without a substantial increase in calling the evening before eggs were collected."

"Sound production played an important role in spawning of wild caught S. ocellatus held in captivity."

"According to the logistic models, the log of the odds of S. ocellatus spawning was positively related to the number of pulses in a call and call duration."

"Lowerre-Barbieri et al. (2008) found that S. ocellatus calling occurred within a frequency range of 100–1200 Hz, while Guest & Lasswell (1978) reported that S. ocellatus pulses contained sound energy up to 2500 Hz with dominant energy in the 240–1000 Hz range. Parmentier et al. (2014) found that captive S. ocellatus produced calls that contained three or four pulses, and the dominant frequency ranged from 78 to 157 Hz."

Observation Environment Quotes

"Sciaenops ocellatus were held in four tanks equipped with long-term acoustic loggers to record underwater sound throughout a simulated reproductive season."

Behaviour Description Quotes

"This study provides ample evidence that sound production equates to spawning in captive S. ocellatus when calls are longer than 0·8 s and contain more than seven pulses. "

" Guest & Lasswell (1978) observed that drumming and nudging in captive S. ocellatus intensified prior to spawning. "

"Guest & Lasswell (1978) were the first to show that male S. ocellatus produce a drumming sound associated with courtship and spawning. Through laboratory experiments, Parmentier et al. (2014) have demonstrated that sound production occurs only in male S. ocellatus. "

"One possibility is that male drumming may aid in the attraction of a gravid female, similar to what Connaughton & Taylor (1996) proposed for C. regalis. "

". The variability in call structure may indicate that males compete with each other to be chosen by females (i.e. intersexual selection). Calling may also function in forming and maintaining spawning aggregations as suggested by Connaughton & Taylor (1996)."

Sound Name Quotes

"This study provides ample evidence that sound production equates to spawning in captive S. ocellatus when calls are longer than 0·8 s and contain more than seven pulses. "

"Guest & Lasswell (1978) were the first to show that male S. ocellatus produce a drumming sound associated with courtship and spawning. Through laboratory experiments, Parmentier et al. (2014) have demonstrated that sound production occurs only in male S. ocellatus. ' ' Sciaenops ocellatus held in captivity produced one distinct call type, which consisted of a repetitive drumming sound."