title: Are mussels able to distinguish underwater sounds? Assessment of the reactions of Mytilus galloprovincialis after exposure to lab-generated acoustic signals.
abstract: This study examined the effects of lab-generated acoustic signals on the behaviour and biochemistry of Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis). The experiment was carried out in a tank equipped with a video-recording system using six groups of five mussels exposed to five acoustic treatments (each treatment was replicated three times) for 30min. The acoustic signals, with a maximum sound pressure level of 150dB rms re 1μPa, differed in frequency range as follows: low (0.1-5kHz), mid-low (5-10kHz), mid (10-20kHz), mid-high (20-40kHz) and high (40-60kHz). The exposure to sweeps did not produce any significant changes in the mussels' behaviour. Conversely, the specimens exposed to the low frequency band treatment showed significantly higher values of the following biochemical stress parameters measured in their plasma and tissues: glucose, total proteins, total haemocyte number (THC), heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) expression, and Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. The responses observed in the mussels exposed to low frequency sweeps enable us to suppose a biological and ecological role for this sound, which contains the main frequencies produced by both shipping traffic and the acoustic emissions of fish.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi no. 18, Palermo, PA, Italy.
authors.forename: Mirella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vazzana
authors.affiliation: Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero U.O. di Capo Granitola, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via del mare no. 3, 91021 Torretta Granitola, TP, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Celi
authors.affiliation: Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero U.O. di Messina, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Spianata S. Raineri no. 86, 98122 Messina, ME, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Maricchiolo
authors.affiliation: Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero U.O. di Messina, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Spianata S. Raineri no. 86, 98122 Messina, ME, Italy.
authors.forename: Lucrezia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Genovese
authors.affiliation: Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero U.O. di Capo Granitola, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via del mare no. 3, 91021 Torretta Granitola, TP, Italy.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Corrias
authors.affiliation: Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero U.O. di Capo Granitola, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via del mare no. 3, 91021 Torretta Granitola, TP, Italy.
authors.forename: Enza Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Quinci
authors.affiliation: Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero U.O. di Capo Granitola, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via del mare no. 3, 91021 Torretta Granitola, TP, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: de Vincenzi
authors.affiliation: Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero U.O. di Capo Granitola, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via del mare no. 3, 91021 Torretta Granitola, TP, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Maccarrone
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia A. Mirri, Via G. Marinuzzi no. 3, 90129 Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cammilleri
authors.affiliation: Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero U.O. di Capo Granitola, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via del mare no. 3, 91021 Torretta Granitola, TP, Italy.
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mazzola
authors.affiliation: Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero U.O. di Capo Granitola, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via del mare no. 3, 91021 Torretta Granitola, TP, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Buscaino
authors.affiliation: Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero U.O. di Capo Granitola, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via del mare no. 3, 91021 Torretta Granitola, TP, Italy. Electronic address: francesco.filiciotto@cnr.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Filiciotto
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism; D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000162:Acoustics; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D017753:Ecosystem; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D006458:Hemolymph / Q000378:metabolism; D049878:Mytilus / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012623:Seawater; D014741:Video Recording
chemical_list: D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase; D005947:Glucose
keywords: Acoustic signals; Behaviour; Biochemical stress; Mytilus galloprovincialis