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Communication sounds produced by captive narrow-ridged finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis)

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Abstract

Toothed whales are the ideal model to validate the hypothesis that the complexity of sound communication relates to sociality. Compared to the numerous studies on several toothed whale species with complex social systems, there are very few studies on sound communication in species with simple social systems, such as narrow-ridged finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis). The sounds and behaviors of six captive narrow-ridged finless porpoises (two males and four females) were recorded at the Toba Aquarium, Japan, to reveal the existence of sound communication in this species. We compared the frequency and probability of the production of various sound types in three recording groups and between behaviors. We identified two novel sound types that were separate from echolocation clicks. The “packet sound” was a pulse sequence with repeated pulse packets (sound series of a few pulses with irregular, short inter-pulse intervals) and was produced by the one-porpoise group. The “burst pulses” was a pulse train in which the inter-pulse intervals were significantly shorter than those in packet sounds and were produced during contact behaviors. We considered that these two sound types were the communication sounds in narrow-ridged finless porpoises.

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The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to K. Okude, Y. Wakai, S. Mitani, and the staff of the Toba Aquarium for their support. We would also like to thank Dr. C. Yamamoto of the Cetacean Research Center, Mie University, and the members of the Laboratory of Fish Stock Enhancement at Mie University for their helpful comments. This research was supported by the Collaborative Research Program of the Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University (2019-A-15) for T.T. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Number 15H05709) for T.M.

Funding

This study was funded by the Collaborative Research Program of the Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University (2019-A-15) for T.T., and JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Number 15H05709) for T.M.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, 1577 Kurimamachiya-cho, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan

    Tomoyoshi Terada, Tadamichi Morisaka & Motoi Yoshioka

  2. Toba Aquarium, 3-3-6 Toba, Toba, Mie, 517-8517, Japan

    Ikuo Wakabayashi

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  1. Tomoyoshi Terada
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  2. Tadamichi Morisaka
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  3. Ikuo Wakabayashi
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  4. Motoi Yoshioka
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Correspondence to Tadamichi Morisaka.

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This study was conducted in accordance with the guidelines for ethological studies of the Japan Ethological Society. The narrow-ridged finless porpoise subjects were not relocated for our study, but for aquarium purposes, such as producing offspring and artificial rearing. They behaved freely throughout the study.

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Terada, T., Morisaka, T., Wakabayashi, I. et al. Communication sounds produced by captive narrow-ridged finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis). J Ethol 40, 245–256 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-022-00755-0

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