Fish sex website
It is, furthermore, "the loudest sound ever recorded for a fish species." The frequencies of sound produced by the corvina fell within a range that could harm the hearing of seals, sea lions and dolphins, or even deafen them, the duo concluded.
It was therefore "surprising" to see sea lions and dolphins feeding nearby.
Every spring, the world’s entire population of Gulf corvina travels to the Colorado River Delta, at the top of the Gulf of California, where they amass in millions and occupy just 1 percent of their normal range.
The fish are large, growing to about a meter (3.3 feet) and weighing up to 12 kilograms (26 pounds).
Explore further: Spying on fish love calls could help protect them from overfishing More information: A sound worth saving: acoustic characteristics of a massive fish spawning aggregation, Biology Letters, rsbl.…
It’s a scenario familiar to anyone who has tried internet dating.
Unlike us, fish reproduce by spawning – the females release large numbers of unfertilized eggs into the water, while the males release millions of sperm to fertilize them.
"This is why sustainable harvest levels need to be set.” About a third of fish in our oceans are overfished, meanwhile they have all sorts of other threats like plastic bottles and toxic pollution to contend with.
"The sound levels generated by chorusing is loud enough to cause at least temporary if not permanent hearing loss in marine mammals that were observed preying on the fish," he said.
Rowell and colleague Brad Erisman of the University of Texas used specialised underwater sound gear to eavesdrop on spawning Gulf corvina, a popular eating fish.
However, Rowell, along with colleague Brad Erisman, believes that the raucous sounds that attract the fishers could also be used for good, by aiding conservationists.
In 2014 they reported that they had developed an effective way of monitoring populations by eavesdropping on the calls.