Departamento de Biologia Animal, Centro de Biologia Ambiental, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Bloco C2 Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal.
J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2011 Sep;197(9):903-13. doi: 10.1007/s00359-011-0651-8. Epub 2011 May 11.
A novel form of auditory plasticity for enhanced detection of social signals was described in a teleost fish, Porichthys notatus (Batrachoididae, Porichthyinae). The seasonal onset of male calling coincides with inshore migration from deep waters by both sexes and increased female sensitivity to dominant frequencies of male calls. The closely related Lusitanian toadfish, Halobatrachus didactylus, (Batrachoididae, Halophryninae) also breeds seasonally and relies on acoustic communication to find mates but, instead, both sexes stay in estuaries and show vocal activity throughout the year. We investigated whether the sensitivity of the inner ear saccule of H. didactylus is seasonally plastic and sexually dimorphic. We recorded evoked potentials from populations of saccular hair cells from non-reproductive and reproductive males and females in response to 15-945 Hz tones. Saccular hair cells were most sensitive at 15-205 Hz (thresholds between 111 and 118 dB re. 1 μPa). Both sexes showed identical hearing sensitivity and no differences were found across seasons. The saccule was well suited to detect conspecific vocalizations and low frequencies that overlapped with lateral line sensitivity. We showed that the saccule in H. didactylus has major importance in acoustic communication throughout the year and that significant sensory differences may exist between the two batrachoidid subfamilies.
一种增强对社会信号检测的听觉可塑性新形式在一种硬骨鱼，Porichthys notatus（蟾鱼科，Porichthyinae）中被描述。雄性的季节性求偶鸣叫与两性的近海洄游和雌性对雄性鸣叫主导频率的敏感性增加同时发生。亲缘关系密切的 Lusitanian 蟾鱼，Halobatrachus didactylus（蟾鱼科，Halophryninae）也季节性繁殖，依赖声学通讯来寻找配偶，但两性都留在河口，并全年保持发声活动。我们研究了 Halobatrachus didactylus 的内耳椭圆囊的敏感性是否具有季节性可塑性和性别二态性。我们记录了来自非生殖和生殖雄性和雌性的椭圆囊毛细胞群体对 15-945 Hz 频率的诱发电位。椭圆囊毛细胞在 15-205 Hz 时最敏感（111-118 dB re. 1 μPa 的阈值）。两性的听力敏感性相同，且各季节之间没有差异。椭圆囊非常适合检测同种的发声和与侧线敏感性重叠的低频。我们表明，在 Halobatrachus didactylus 中，椭圆囊在全年的声学通讯中具有重要意义，并且这两个蟾鱼亚科之间可能存在显著的感觉差异。
