| THE BEHAVIOUR OF SETTLEMENT-STAGE CORAL REEF FISHES IN NOISY ENVIRONMENTS |
| SIMPSON, S.D., Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK, s.simpson@ed.ac.uk. |
| Recent field studies have demonstrated that the larvae of coral reef fishes are highly attracted to the noise of coral reefs at settlement. This provides an orientation mechanism that may facilitate active recruitment of fishes to specific reef habitats. In this talk, I will first present our evidence from the field, including a recent study where we enhanced settlement of fishes to patch reefs by adding sound cues, and found inter-familial variation in the preferred sounds. I will then consider the variability of sound cues through space and time, and discuss this with respect to the nature of sensory zones in which settlement-stage fishes may respond. I will conclude by demonstrating a modelling approach we have developed to look at population behaviour in noisy environments, where we allow behaviour to evolve to suit specific conditions, and present the results of an applied study looking at the effects of shipping noise in the Straits of Hormuz. |
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