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Directional orientation of pomacentrid larvae to ambient reef sound

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Abstract

The mechanisms by which reef fish larvae locate settlement habitat at the end of their pelagic phase are unclear. We used an in situ binary choice chamber and an artificial source of reef sound to determine whether pomacentrid larvae can use ambient sound to locate reefs. Larvae were caught in light traps and then placed in a submerged binary choice chamber with an artificial source of reef sound ~80 m from one end of the chamber. At night, larvae moved towards the sound source; during the day, larvae showed no preference. These results suggest that pomacentrid larvae can detect reef sound and are capable of directional hearing. While other studies have shown that reef fish larvae respond to reef sound, and that the adults of some species can localize underwater sound sources, the localization of underwater sound by fish larvae has not been demonstrated previously.

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Acknowledgements

We thank two anonymous reviewers, T. Willis and N. Shears, and the Leigh Lab journal discussion group for comments on the MS. Thanks also to the staff at Lizard Island, J. Brown, W.M. Thorton, J. Gilberto, H. Ledbetter, F.M. Giambartolomei, and S. Simpson for general help and discussion. Thanks to D. Parsons, T. Smith, B. Roll, H.K.Y. Sack, J. Walker, R. Ford, and N. Shears for post-lunch discussions. This work was supported by the Marsden Fund.

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  1. N. Tolimieri

    Present address: Northwest Fisheries Science Center, 2725 Montlake Blvd E, Seattle, WA, 98112, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leigh Marine Lab, PO Box 349, Warkworth, New Zealand

    N. Tolimieri, O. Haine & J. Montgomery

  2. Experimental Biology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand

    N. Tolimieri, O. Haine & J. Montgomery

  3. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, PO Box 109695, Auckland, New Zealand

    A. Jeffs

  4. Centre for Marine Science and Technology, Curtin University, GPO Box U 1987, 6845, Perth, Australia

    R. McCauley

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  1. N. Tolimieri
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  2. O. Haine
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  4. R. McCauley
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Correspondence to N. Tolimieri.

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Communicated by Ecological Editor P.F. Sale

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Tolimieri, N., Haine, O., Jeffs, A. et al. Directional orientation of pomacentrid larvae to ambient reef sound. Coral Reefs 23, 184–191 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-004-0383-0

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