One of the world’s smallest fish, measuring about the width of an adult human fingernail, can make a sound as loud as a gunshot, scientists have said.
The male Danionella cerebrum, a fish of about 12mm found in the streams of Myanmar, produces sounds that exceed 140 decibels, according to the study published in the PNAS journal, equal to an ambulance siren or jackhammer.
The most common mechanism in fishes to produce sound involved vibrations of their swim bladder – a gas-filled organ used to control buoyancy – driven by rhythmic contractions of specialised “drumming” muscles, the paper said.
The scientists at Charité University in Berlin have found the fish has a unique sound production system, involving a drumming cartilage, specialised rib and fatigue-resistant muscle.
To produce sound, a rib that lies next to the swim bladder is moved by a special muscle into a piece of cartilage.
The scientists have not established why the fish make such loud sounds but suggested it could help navigate murky waters or be an aggressive tactic used by males to warn off competition.
The original article contains 317 words, the summary contains 180 words. Saved 43%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
One of the world’s smallest fish, measuring about the width of an adult human fingernail, can make a sound as loud as a gunshot, scientists have said.
The male Danionella cerebrum, a fish of about 12mm found in the streams of Myanmar, produces sounds that exceed 140 decibels, according to the study published in the PNAS journal, equal to an ambulance siren or jackhammer.
The most common mechanism in fishes to produce sound involved vibrations of their swim bladder – a gas-filled organ used to control buoyancy – driven by rhythmic contractions of specialised “drumming” muscles, the paper said.
The scientists at Charité University in Berlin have found the fish has a unique sound production system, involving a drumming cartilage, specialised rib and fatigue-resistant muscle.
To produce sound, a rib that lies next to the swim bladder is moved by a special muscle into a piece of cartilage.
The scientists have not established why the fish make such loud sounds but suggested it could help navigate murky waters or be an aggressive tactic used by males to warn off competition.
The original article contains 317 words, the summary contains 180 words. Saved 43%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!