The utility of a long‐term acoustic recording system for detecting white seabass Atractoscion nobilis spawning sounds

Abstract

This study reports the use of a long-term acoustic recording system (LARS) to remotely monitor white seabass Atractoscion nobilis spawning sounds at three sites along the southern California coastline, adjacent to Camp Pendleton. On the basis of previous studies of A. nobilis sound production relative to periods of known spawning activity, LARS were set to continuously record ambient sounds for a 2 h period around sunset from April to June 2009. Acoustic analyses identified A. nobilis courtship sounds on 89, 28 and 45% of the days at the three locations, respectively. From 474 h of acoustic data, spawning-related sounds (chants) were detected on 19 occasions in 2009 with an additional 11 spawning chants recorded during a 2007 validation period. Most spawning chants occurred within 30 min of sunset during the months of May and June at a mean ±S.D. surface temperature of 18.2 ± 1.2° C. Consecutive daily spawning activity was not apparent at any sites in 2009. Atractoscion nobilis spawning chants were recorded at all three sites, suggesting that shallow rocky reefs which support kelp forests provide suitable A. nobilis spawning habitat. Results confirm the utility of passive acoustic recorders for identifying A. nobilis spawning periods and locations.

Seasonal movement patterns and temperature profiles of adult white seabass (Atractoscion nobilis) off California

“…Collectively, a mean displacement of 229 km from the initial tagging location indicates that white seabass are capable of extensive seasonal migrations. Widespread horizontal movements during the spawning season are consistent with recent data that indicate limited residency periods at distinct spawning sites along the southern coast of California (Aalbers and Sepulveda, 2012). The broad movements docu-mented in our study contrast with the limited home ranges that have been observed in other coastal fishes (Holland et al, 1996;Lowe et al, 2003;Neat et al, 2006).…”

Sound production by the Shi drum Umbrina cirrosa and comparison with the brown meagre Sciaena umbra: a passive acoustic monitoring perspective

“…Many fishes of the family Sciaenidae are known to make sounds (Ramcharitar et al , ). The presence of sciaenid species of commercial interest has been investigated through passive acoustic monitoring (PAM), especially along the northern American coast (Rountree et al , ; Fine & Thorson, ; Luczkovich et al , ; Mann et al , ; Aalbers & Sepulveda, ). In the Mediterranean Sea, there are five different species of sciaenids.…”

A decade of monitoring Atlantic cod Gadus morhua spawning aggregations in Massachusetts Bay using passive acoustics

“…Long-term PAM is used to study decadal trends in the occurrence and distribution shifts of marine mammals (Van Parijs et al 2009, Davis et al 2017 and is increasingly being used to monitor fish occurrence and behavior (Locascio & Mann 2008, Mann et al 2009, Širović et al 2009, Nelson et al 2011, Aalbers & Sepulveda 2012, Bolgan et al 2018, Zemeckis et al 2019. Calling activity has been linked to reproductive behavior in many other fishes, including pomacentrids (Mann & Lobel 1995), batra choidids (McKibben & Bass 1998), sciaenids (Locascio & Mann 2008), and serranids (Rowell et al 2015).…”