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The Sense of Hearing in Fishes

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Perspectives on Auditory Research

Part of the book series: Springer Handbook of Auditory Research ((SHAR,volume 50))

Abstract

This chapter chronicles the evolution of experiments from 1966 through 2011 that led to determining what fish listen to. By 2009, it became clear that goldfish are listening to the soundscape, like most other animals. This conclusion is based on three conceptions: (1) the fish brain is similar in morphotype to all vertebrate brains; (2) the goldfish, at least, has the processing power to analyze complex soundscapes; and (3) the processing of fish vocalizations couldn’t be a determining factor in the evolution of fish hearing. Goldfish possess the sense of hearing required to process the various sources likely making up a fish’s soundscape. They seem to be able to process the acoustic spectrum. They can process reverberations and reflections and various temporal patterns, and some species can locate the sources of sound using binaural hearing. Suggested here, then, is the notion of environmental soundscapes as the most probably important sources of information to organisms. Environmental information exists to be exploited for appropriate behavior with respect to audible sound sources and events, and fish have the capacity to exploit it for general orientation. This is what fish and other species listen to.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    Richard R. Fay

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  1. Richard R. Fay
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Correspondence to Richard R. Fay .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA

    Arthur N. Popper

  2. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA

    Richard R. Fay

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Fay, R.R. (2014). The Sense of Hearing in Fishes. In: Popper, A., Fay, R. (eds) Perspectives on Auditory Research. Springer Handbook of Auditory Research, vol 50. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9102-6_7

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