Our fish have their own secret language of grunts, growls and popping sounds, an Auckland scientist has found.
Gurnard are very chatty fish. They talk to each other using special grunts.
Auckland University’s Shahriman Ghazali has been recording and studying language of fish at our oldest marine reserve in Leigh.
He says all fish can hear, but only some can speak.
"Pops and other sounds are made by vibrating their swim bladder, a muscle they can contract," he says.
He says that fish use these sounds for a number of reasons: to attract mates, to scare off predators, or to figure out where they are..
Gurnard was identified as one of our most vocal fish. In contrast, cod were found to be silent types, however they became chattier during spawning season when they are looking for other cod.
Demsel fish were most vocal when they felt threatened.
To study the fish, Ghazali placed them in a tank.
After giving them a few weeks to feel at home, he began his recordings using an hydrophone (underwater microphone).
If a fish made a sound, he would try look at their environment to figure out why they were making these noises.
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