Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.
J Acoust Soc Am. 2023 Feb;153(2):1130. doi: 10.1121/10.0017171.
There is increasing concern that anthropogenic sounds have a significant impact on marine animals, but there remains insufficient data on sound sensitivities for most invertebrates, despite their ecological and economic importance. We quantified auditory thresholds (in particle acceleration levels) and bandwidth of the giant scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) and subsequently sought to discern sensitivity among two different life stages: juveniles (1 yr olds) and subadults (3 yr olds). We also leveraged a novel valvometry technique to quantify the amplitude of scallop valve gape reductions when exposed to different sound amplitudes and frequencies. Behavioral responses were obtained for lower frequencies below 500 Hz, with best sensitivity at 100 Hz. There were significant differences between the auditory thresholds of juveniles and subadults, with juveniles being more sensitive, suggesting ontogenetic differences in hearing sensitivity. Scallops showed intensity and frequency dependent responses to sounds, with higher valve closures to lower frequencies and higher sound levels. To our knowledge, these are the first data highlighting life stage, intensity, and frequency responses to sound in a marine benthic invertebrate. These results demonstrate clear sound sensitivity and underscore that the potential impacts of anthropogenic sound in valuable ecological resources, such as scallops, may be dependent on sound characteristics.
人们越来越担心人为噪音对海洋动物有重大影响，但对于大多数无脊椎动物，尽管它们具有生态和经济重要性，仍缺乏足够的声音敏感性数据。我们量化了巨扇贝（Placopecten magellanicus）的听觉阈值（以颗粒加速度水平衡量）和带宽，随后试图辨别两个不同生命阶段的敏感性：幼体（1 岁）和亚成体（3 岁）。我们还利用一种新颖的瓣膜测量技术来量化扇贝在暴露于不同声幅和频率时的贝壳张合幅度减少量。在低于 500Hz 的低频下获得了行为反应，最佳灵敏度为 100Hz。幼体和亚成体的听觉阈值存在显著差异，幼体更敏感，这表明听觉敏感性存在个体发育差异。扇贝对声音表现出强度和频率依赖性反应，对较低频率和较高声级的贝壳闭合度更高。据我们所知，这些是第一个在海洋底栖无脊椎动物中强调生命阶段、强度和频率对声音反应的数据。这些结果表明扇贝具有明显的声音敏感性，并强调人为噪音对有价值的生态资源（如扇贝）的潜在影响可能取决于声音特征。
