title: Long-term monitoring of captive red drum Sciaenops ocellatus reveals that calling incidence and structure correlate with egg deposition.
abstract: In the present study, quantitative data were collected to clarify the relationship between calling, call structure and eggs produced in a captive population of red drum Sciaenops ocellatus. Sciaenops ocellatus were held in four tanks equipped with long-term acoustic loggers to record underwater sound throughout a simulated reproductive season. Maximal sound production of captive S. ocellatus occurred when the photoperiod shifted from 13·0 to 12·5 h of light, and the water temperature decreased to c. 25° C. These captive settings are similar to the amount of daylight and water temperatures observed during the autumn, which is the primary spawning period for S. ocellatus. Sciaenops ocellatus exhibited daily patterns of calling with peak sound production occurring in the evenings between 0·50 h before dark and 1·08 h after dark. Spawning occurred only on evenings in which S. ocellatus were calling, and spawning was more productive when S. ocellatus produced more calls with longer durations and more pulses. This study provides ample evidence that sound production equates to spawning in captive S. ocellatus when calls are longer than 0·8 s and contain more than seven pulses. The fact that more calling, longer calls and higher sound pressure levels are associated with spawns that are more productive indicates that acoustic metrics can provide quantitative information on spawning in the wild.
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Sciences, University of South Carolina Beaufort, One University Boulevard, Bluffton, SC 29909, U.S.A.
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Montie
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Sciences, University of South Carolina Beaufort, One University Boulevard, Bluffton, SC 29909, U.S.A.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kehrer
authors.affiliation: Marine Resources Research Institute, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, P. O. Box 12559, Charleston, SC 29422-2559, U.S.A.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yost
authors.affiliation: Marine Resources Research Institute, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, P. O. Box 12559, Charleston, SC 29422-2559, U.S.A.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brenkert
authors.affiliation: Marine Resources Research Institute, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, P. O. Box 12559, Charleston, SC 29422-2559, U.S.A.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.affiliation: Marine Resources Research Institute, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, P. O. Box 12559, Charleston, SC 29422-2559, U.S.A.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Denson
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D017440:Photoperiod; D012098:Reproduction; D012621:Seasons; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D013016:Sound; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Sciaenidae; passive acoustics; reproduction; soniferous fishes; sound production