Full Description

"The results show that this methodology is able not only to detect the mating sounds (boatwhistles) but also to identify individual male toadfish, reaching an identification rate of ca. 95%."

"This species is highly vocal and has an unusually large acoustic signal repertoire for fish that includes boatwhistles, croaks, double croaks, long grunt trains, grunts, and other less frequent sound combinations (see Amorim et al., 2008, for details of the vocalizations). During the breeding season in Portugal, the species can be found in estuarine shallow waters, often presenting high turbidity, where breeding males occupy nests under rocks and produce boatwhistles to attract females (Vasconcelos et al., 2012). The advertisement boatwhistle, the most frequent sound in this species, is a highly stereotyped low-frequency signal with a duration ranging from 400 to 1200 ms and a dominant frequency between ca. 50 and 200 Hz (Amorim and Vasconcelos, 2008; Amorim et al., 2008). Interestingly, the boatwhistle presents inter-individual differences during short periods of time (< 10min; Amorim and Vasconcelos, 2008; Amorim et al., 2011), allowing the recognition of individuals based on sounds."

"Boatwhistles from different fish occasionally overlapped as they often call in choruses."

"When considering a 20–250 Hz frequency band to train the recognition system for individual discrimination, an identification rate of up to 88% was achieved."

"Adjustments on this system to allow more subtle discriminations of sounds could, for example, permit to infer the dynamics of agonistic interactions throughout the breeding season by sorting advertisement from agonistic boatwhistles, which differ in dominant frequency and amplitude modulation (Vasconcelos et al., 2010)."

Observation Environment Quotes

"We recorded the vocalizations of adult territorial males during the breeding season (May to July 2012). The males spontaneously occupied concrete artificial hemicylindrical nests, capped at one end, which we deployed in the Tagus estuary (Air Force Base 6, Montijo, Portugal; 38420N, 8580W). These nests, positioned at 2 m from each other in a row, had the entrance covered with a stainless steel net with an opening large enough to allow females or small prey (e.g., crabs) to enter the nest but prevented the larger territorial males from escaping."

Behaviour Description Quotes

"The results show that this methodology is able not only to detect the mating sounds (boatwhistles) but also to identify individual male toadfish, reaching an identification rate of ca. 95%. "

"During the breeding season in Portugal, the species can be found in estuarine shallow waters, often presenting high turbidity, where breeding males occupy nests under rocks and produce boatwhistles to attract females (Vasconcelos et al., 2012). The advertisement boatwhistle, the most frequent sound in this species, is a highly stereotyped low-frequency signal with a duration ranging from 400 to 1200 ms and a dominant frequency between ca. 50 and 200 Hz (Amorim and Vasconcelos, 2008; Amorim et al., 2008)."

"Adjustments on this system to allow more subtle discriminations of sounds could, for example, permit to infer the dynamics of agonistic interactions throughout the breeding season by sorting advertisement from agonistic boatwhistles, which differ in dominant frequency and amplitude modulation (Vasconcelos et al., 2010)."

Sound Name Quotes

"The results show that this methodology is able not only to detect the mating sounds (boatwhistles) but also to identify individual male toadfish, reaching an identification rate of ca. 95%. "

"This species is highly vocal and has an unusually large acoustic signal repertoire for fish that includes boatwhistles, croaks, double croaks, long grunt trains, grunts, and other less frequent sound combinations (see Amorim et al., 2008, for details of the vocalizations). "

"Note that the lowest fundamental frequency of the different toadfish sound types is approximately 50 Hz (boatwhistles), corresponding to a pulse period of 20 ms (Amorim et al., 2008). "

"Boatwhistles from different fish occasionally overlapped as they often call in choruses. "

"A total of 14 795 boat whistles, 23 croaks, 24 double croaks, and 77 grunts were used."