Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK
Oceans Graduate School and the UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.
J Exp Biol. 2019 Jul 25;222(Pt 14):jeb198184. doi: 10.1242/jeb.198184.
The viviparous sea snakes (Hydrophiinae) are a secondarily aquatic radiation of more than 60 species that possess many phenotypic adaptations to marine life. However, virtually nothing is known of the role and sensitivity of hearing in sea snakes. This study investigated the hearing sensitivity of the fully marine sea snake by measuring auditory evoked potential (AEP) audiograms for two individuals. AEPs were recorded from 40 Hz (the lowest frequency tested) up to 600 Hz, with a peak in sensitivity identified at 60 Hz (163.5 dB re. 1 µPa or 123 dB re. 1 µm s). Our data suggest that sea snakes are sensitive to low-frequency sounds but have relatively low sensitivity compared with bony fishes and marine turtles. Additional studies are required to understand the role of sound in sea snake life history and further assess these species' vulnerability to anthropogenic noise.
胎生海蛇（Hydrophiinae）是一个具有 60 多种物种的二级水生辐射种群，它们拥有许多对海洋生活的表型适应性。然而，对于海蛇的听觉作用和敏感性几乎一无所知。本研究通过测量两只完全生活在海洋中的海蛇的听觉诱发电位（AEP）听力图，研究了海蛇的听力敏感性。AEPs 是从 40Hz（测试的最低频率）到 600Hz 进行记录的，在 60Hz（1µPa 下的 163.5dB 或 1µm/s 下的 123dB）处检测到一个敏感峰。我们的数据表明，海蛇对低频声音敏感，但与硬骨鱼和海龟相比，它们的敏感性相对较低。需要进一步的研究来了解声音在海蛇生活史中的作用，并进一步评估这些物种对人为噪声的脆弱性。
