12 mm fish produces 140-Decibel Sound

Judith Jördens Pressestelle Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung Tel. 069- 7542 1434 pressestelle@senckenberg.de

An international research team, along with Senckenberg scientist Dr. Ralf Britz, has studied Danionella cerebrum, a small species of fish with a length of no more than 12 millimeters. Despite its diminutive size, the fish can produce sounds close to its body of over 140 decibels – comparable to a jet engine during take-off in 100 meter distance. In their study, published in the scientific journal “PNAS,” the researchers show that the tiny, translucent fish possess a special sound-generating apparatus. The animals presumably use the sounds to communicate with each other in turbid waters.

The snapping shrimp can generate a popping sound of up to 250 decibels with its claws. The mating calls of the flightless kakapo reach 130 decibels, and elephants can produce noise of up to 125 decibels with their trunks. “Fishes, on the other hand, are generally considered to be rather quiet members of the animal kingdom,” explains Dr. Ralf Britz of the Senckenberg Natural History Collections in Dresden, and he continues, “However, there are certain fish species that can be surprisingly loud. For example, the male plainfin midshipman fish attracts its females with an audible vibrato of around 100 hertz and 130 decibels.”

In their current study, Britz and an international research team led by Benjamin Judkewitz from Charité in Berlin examined the fish species Danionella cerebrum, which only reaches a length of about 12 millimeters. “This tiny fish can produce sounds of over 140 decibels at a distance of 10 to 12 millimeters – this is comparable to the noise a human perceives of an airplane during take-off at a distance of 100 meter and quite unusual for an animal of such diminutive size. We tried to understand how the fish manages this and what mechanisms are responsible for this achievement,” explains the ichthyologist from Dresden.

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