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Science 18 May 2007:
Vol. 316. no. 5827, p. 1006
DOI: 10.1126/science.1139753
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Brevia

Sound Production in the Clownfish Amphiprion clarkii

Eric Parmentier,1* Orphal Colleye,1 Michael L. Fine,2 Bruno Frédérich,1 Pierre Vandewalle,1 Anthony Herrel3

Although clownfish sounds were recorded as early as 1930, the mechanism of sound production has remained obscure. Yet, clownfish are prolific "singers" that produce a wide variety of sounds, described as "chirps" and "pops" in both reproductive and agonistic behavioral contexts. Here, we describe the sonic mechanism of the clownfish Amphiprion clarkii.

1 Laboratoire de Morphologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Institut de Chimie, Bâtiment B6, Université de Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgique.
2 Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284–2012, USA.
3 Laboratory for Functional Morphology, Department of Biology, Building C, University of Antwerp, Campus "Drie Eiken," Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerpen, Belgium.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: E.Parmentier{at}ulg.ac.be

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Sound production and spectral hearing sensitivity in the Hawaiian sergeant damselfish, Abudefduf abdominalis.
K. P. Maruska, K. S. Boyle, L. R. Dewan, and T. C. Tricas (2007)
J. Exp. Biol. 210, 3990-4004
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)