Impact of anthropogenic noise on fish fitness

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Sound production in the Meagre, Argyrosomus regius (Asso, 1801): intraspecific variability associated with size, sex and context

Publication . Pereira, David; Vieira, Manuel; Pousão-Ferreira, Pedro; Candeias-Mendes, Ana; Barata, Marisa; Fonseca, Paulo; Amorim, Maria Clara Pessoa

Many fish taxa produce sound in voluntary and in disturbance contexts but information on the full acoustic repertoire is lacking for most species. Yet, this knowledge is critical to enable monitoring fish populations in nature through acoustic monitoring.

2020Journal article

Open access

Boat noise impacts early life stages in the Lusitanian toadfish: A field experiment

Publication . Faria, A.; Fonseca, P.J.; Vieira, M.; Alves, L.M.F.; Lemos, M.F.L.; Novais, S.C.; Matos, A.B.; Vieira, D.; Amorim, M.C.P.

Marine traffic is themost common and chronic source of ocean noise pollution. Despite the evidence of detrimental effects of noise exposure on fish, knowledge about the effects on the critical early life stages - embryos and larvae - is still scarce. Here, we take a natural habitat-based approach to examine potential impacts of boat noise exposure in early life stages in a wild fish population of the Lusitanian toadfish (Halobatrachus didactylus). In-situ experiments were carried out in the Tagus estuary, an estuary with significant commercial and recreational boat traffic. Nestswith eggswere exposed to either ambient (control) or boat noise (treatment), for 1 fortnight. Eggs were photographed before being assigned to each treatment, and after exposure, to count number of eggs and/or larvae to assess survival, and sampled to study development and oxidative stress and energy metabolism-related biomarkers. Data concerns 4 sampling periods (fortnights) from 2 years. Results indicate that offspring survival did not differ between treatments, but boat noise induced a detrimental effect on embryos and larvae stress response, and on larvae development. Embryos showed reduced levels of electron transport system (ETS), an energy metabolism-related biomarker, while larvae showed higher overall stress responses, with increased levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and DNA damage (oxidative stress related responses), ETS, and reduced growth. With this study,we provided the first evidence of detrimental effects of boat noise exposure on fish development in the field and on stress biomarker responses. If these critical early stages are not able to compensate and/or acclimate to the noise stress later in the ontogeny, then anthropogenic noise has the potential to severely affect this and likely other marine fishes, with further consequences for populations resilience and dynamics.

2021Journal article

Open access

Fish sounds and boat noise are prominent soundscape contributors in an urban European estuary

Publication . Vieira, Manuel; Fonseca, Paulo; Amorim, Maria Clara P

Passive acoustic monitoring is a valuable tool for non-intrusive monitoring of marine environments, also allowing the assessment of underwater noise that can negatively affect marine organisms. Here we provide for the first time, an assessment of noise levels and temporal soundscape patterns for a European estuary. We used several eco-acoustics methodologies to characterize the data collected over six weeks within May 2016 - July 2017 from Tagus estuary. Biophony was the major contributor dominated by fish vocalizations and the main driver for seasonal patterns. Maritime traffic was the major source of anthropogenic noise, with daily patterns monitored using 1584 Hz third-octave band level. This indicator avoided biophony and geophony, unlike other indicators proposed for the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Furthermore, the frequency overlap between anthropophony and biophony demands precautionary actions and calls for further research. This study provides an assessment that will be useful for future monitoring and management strategies.

2021Journal article

Open access

Boat noise affects meagre (Argyrosomus regius) hearing and vocal behaviour

Publication . Vieira, Manuel; Beauchaud, Marilyn; Amorim, Maria Clara P; Fonseca, Paulo

Aquatic noise has increased in last decades imposing new constraints on aquatic animals' acoustic communication. Meagre (Argyrosomus regius) produce loud choruses during the breeding season, likely facilitating aggregations and mating, and are thus amenable to being impacted by anthropogenic noise. We assessed the impact of boat noise on this species acoustic communication by: evaluating possible masking effects of boat noise on hearing using Auditory Evoked Potentials (AEP) and inspecting changes in chorus sound levels from free ranging fish upon boat passages. Our results point to a significant masking effect of anthropogenic noise since we observed a reduction of ca. 20 dB on the ability to discriminate conspecific calls when exposed to boat noise. Furthermore, we verified a reduction in chorus energy during ferryboat passages, a behavioural effect that might ultimately impact spawning. This study is one of few addressing the effects of boat noise by combining different methodologies both in the lab and with free ranging animals.

2021Journal article

Open access