Hi there,
We have a paper just published in PLoS ONE showing
a directional response to reef sound by coral larvae at the time that
they are ready to settle out of the plankton and attach to the seabed.
It might be a first for your list to have a paper on orientation
behaviour in response to sound in the Cnidaria.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0010660
Cheers,
Steve
Vermeij
MJA, Marhaver KL, Huijbers CM, Nagelkerken I, Simpson SD (2010)
Coral Larvae Move toward Reef Sounds. PLoS ONE 5(5):
e10660.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010660
Abstract:
Free-swimming
larvae of tropical corals go through a critical life-phase
when they return from the open ocean to select a suitable settlement
substrate. During the planktonic phase of their life cycle, the
behaviours of small coral larvae (<1 mm) that influence settlement
success are difficult to observe in situ and are therefore
largely unknown. Here, we show that coral larvae respond to acoustic
cues that may facilitate detection of habitat from large distances and
from upcurrent of preferred settlement locations. Using in situ
choice chambers, we found that settling coral larvae were attracted to
reef sounds, produced mainly by fish and crustaceans, which we broadcast
underwater using loudspeakers. Our discovery that coral larvae can
detect and respond to sound is the first description of an auditory
response in the invertebrate phylum Cnidaria, which includes jellyfish,
anemones, and hydroids as well as corals. If, like settlement-stage reef
fish and crustaceans, coral larvae use reef noise as a cue for
orientation, the alleviation of noise pollution in the marine
environment may gain further urgency.
*************************************************
Dr
Stephen D. Simpson - Fish Ecologist
University of Bristol
School
of Biological Sciences
Woodland Road
Bristol, BS8 1UG, UK
Tel:
+44 (0) 117 954 5909 / +44 (0) 7900551883
Email:
/
Web:
http://www.bio.bris.ac.uk/people/staff.cfm?key=1354
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