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Effects of an ensonified bubble curtain and a cyclic sound on blocking 10 species of fishes including 4 invasive carps in a laboratory flume

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Abstract

Four species of invasive carp from Asia are currently advancing up the Mississippi River through its locks and dams. It has been hypothesized that this movement could be blocked in a selective manner by projecting sound projected into locks because carp, like all members of the Ostariophysi, have exceptional hearing. Although previous laboratory studies have shown that a broadband cyclic sound blocks ~ 80% of bighead and common carp, and that this value increases when sound is projected into an air curtain to create an ensonified bubble curtain (EBC), the effectiveness of EBCs at blocking other fishes including carps has not been addressed. To answer this question, the present study examined the responses of 10 fishes including 4 species of invasive carp (bighead, silver, grass, common), 2 native ostariophysians (channel catfish, golden shiner), and 4 native non-ostariophysians (rainbow trout, largemouth bass, bluegill sunfish, lake sturgeon) in a laboratory flume while a cyclic sound was either projected on its own or into a bubble curtain. The EBC, whose sound fields (sound pressure and particle acceleration) were more intense and sharper than sound alone, blocked all 4 carps 92–97% of the time for all 8 trials (i.e. without apparent habituation), while 5 native ostariophysian and non-ostariophysian fishes were also partially blocked 19–89%. In contrast, sound alone significantly blocked only bighead and common carp while affecting the other fishes including the carps to varying extents (− 44–7%). In conclusion, EBCs appear very well suited to block carps.

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Data availability

Data are available from the authors upon request and also from the University of Minnesota data archive site (DRUM). https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/166578/discover?query=Feely

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center for helping administer the project and providing laboratory space. Dr. Andy Turnpenny provided technical advice on the laboratory equipment which was leased from Fish Guidance Systems Ltd. without conditions or any expectation of what the results might be. Clark Dennis provided invaluable help with the experimental design, protocols, data and sound analysis. Dan Zielinski advised on the propagation of sound fields. Help with statistical design and analyses was provided by the University of Minnesota’s Institute for Research on Statistics and its Applications Statistical Consulting Center (Dr. Gary Oehlert). Dan Krause, Rosie Daniels, Kirsten Engseth, Kory Davis, Pheng Lor, Laura Wagner. Austin Abbott, Nicholas Jacob, and Kara Van Lerberghe provided invaluable help with fish husbandry, running experiments. Three anonymous reviewers and an associate editor provided many helpful suggestions.

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission for Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).

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  1. Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, 2003 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA

    Jane R. Feely & Peter W. Sorensen

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  1. Jane R. Feely
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  2. Peter W. Sorensen
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This research was conceived by PS who also acquired the funding and edited final drafts of the manuscript. Data collection and analysis was performed by JF who wrote the first drafts of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Peter W. Sorensen.

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Procedures were approved by the University of Minnesota Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (Protocol: 1712-35381A).

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Feely, J.R., Sorensen, P.W. Effects of an ensonified bubble curtain and a cyclic sound on blocking 10 species of fishes including 4 invasive carps in a laboratory flume. Biol Invasions 25, 1973–1989 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03022-6

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