Full Description

"The oyster toadfish boatwhistle call starts with an irregular sound waveform that could be an emergent property of the peripheral nonlinear soundproducing system or reflect complex encoding in the central nervous system."

"We recorded sound and swimbladder muscle activity in awake, freely behaving toadfish during motor nerve stimulation, and recorded sound, motor nerve and muscle activity during spontaneous grunts."

"Oyster toadfish produce at least two kinds of sounds: the grunt, an agonistic call (peak frequency ~90_Hz) produced by both sexes (Maruska and Mensinger, 2009), and the ‘boatwhistle’, a 200–700_ms long tonal call (fundamental frequency 80–220_Hz) that males can produce up to six to 15 times per minute from their nest to attract females and establish territories (Edds-Walton et al., 2002; Fine, 1978; Mensinger, 2014; Tavolga, 1958). The boatwhistle consists of two parts (Fig. 1A). Part 1 (P1) consists of a 50–100_ms long irregular waveform, while part 2 (P2) consists of a regular repetitive harmonic waveform (Edds-Walton et al., 2002)."

"SBM excitation resulted in harmonic sound pressure waveforms of which the amplitude varied with VN stimulation frequency and was highest between 150 and 185_Hz (Fig._2C) at the temperature studied (23°C). Each individual fish demonstrated a slightly different optimal frequency where sound pressure was highest. The sound pressure produced ranged from 152 to 156_dB_SPL_re._1__Pa except for one individual fish that produced its loudest call at 134_dB. A second, lower sound amplitude peak was observed around half of the optimal frequency, at 80–100_Hz for four out of five fish and for one individual at 130_Hz. This lower amplitude peak was separated from the higher amplitude peak by a trough ranging from 8 to 25_dB. Unilateral VN stimulation at the individual’s optimal frequency resulted in sound production, but caused the sound pressure amplitude to drop significantly (P<0.01, N=5) by 12.2±2.8_dB (left-sided) and 13.1±3.0_dB (right-sided) (Fig._2D)."

Observation Environment Quotes

"We recorded boatwhistle advertisement calls of male oyster toadfish in saltwater ponds."

"Toadfish were placed in a 20_20_m saltwater pond at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and provided with artificial habitat. "

"Adult male oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau) were obtained from the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL; Woods Hole, MA, USA) and maintained in large, flow-through seawater tanks at 20°C."

Behaviour Description Quotes

"Oyster toadfish produce at least two kinds of sounds: the grunt, an agonistic call (peak frequency ~90_Hz) produced by both sexes (Maruska and Mensinger, 2009), and the ‘boatwhistle’, a 200–700_ms long tonal call (fundamental frequency 80–220_Hz) that males can produce up to six to 15 times per minute from their nest to attract females and establish territories (Edds-Walton et al., 2002; Fine, 1978; Mensinger, 2014; Tavolga, 1958). The boatwhistle consists of two parts (Fig. 1A). Part 1 (P1) consists of a 50–100_ms long irregular waveform, while part 2 (P2) consists of a regular repetitive harmonic waveform (Edds-Walton et al., 2002)."

"Electrodes were inserted to stimulate and record from the bilateral motor nerves and swimbladder muscles in 11 individuals [29.9±1.2_cm standard length (mean ± s.e.m.); 530±69_g wet mass]."

Sound Name Quotes

"The oyster toadfish boatwhistle call starts with an irregular sound waveform that could be an emergent property of the peripheral nonlinear soundproducing system or reflect complex encoding in the central nervous system. "

" We recorded sound and swimbladder muscle activity in awake, freely behaving toadfish during motor nerve stimulation, and recorded sound, motor nerve and muscle activity during spontaneous grunts."

"Oyster toadfish produce at least two kinds of sounds: the grunt, an agonistic call (peak frequency ~90_Hz) produced by both sexes (Maruska and Mensinger, 2009), and the ‘boatwhistle’, a 200–700_ms long tonal call (fundamental frequency 80–220_Hz) that males can produce up to six to 15 times per minute from their nest to attract females and establish territories (Edds-Walton et al., 2002; Fine, 1978; Mensinger, 2014; Tavolga, 1958). The boatwhistle consists of two parts (Fig. 1A). Part 1 (P1) consists of a 50–100_ms long irregular waveform, while part 2 (P2) consists of a regular repetitive harmonic waveform (Edds-Walton et al., 2002)."