Danionella cerebrumThis translucent fish species, only 12 mm long, produces high-amplitude sounds exceeding 140 dB (1 µPa relative at a distance of 1 body length). This is comparable to a jet engine taking off at a distance of 100 meters.
Danionella cerebrum It has a pair of extrinsic indirect muscles that house the drumming cartilage. When the sonic muscles contract, they pull the fifth rib forward, pulling on the cartilage and increasing tension. When the cartilage is suddenly released, it rapidly impinges on the swim bladder, producing a short, loud pulse. Bursts of pulses are produced by bilateral alternating or unilateral muscle contractions. In summary, this mechanism allows for loud, stereotypical sounds elicited in structured sequences, making it unique for vertebrate acoustic communication and ultrafast skeletal locomotion that exceeds the limitations of muscle contraction velocity. It will be a solution. Image credit: Ralf Britz, Senckenberg Natural History Collections.
“Oyster oyster shrimp can make crackling noises of up to 250 dB with their claws,” he said. Dr. Ralph Blitzichthyologist at the Senckenberg Natural History Collection.
“The flightless kakapo’s mating call can reach 130 dB, and elephants can make up to 125 dB of noise with their trunks.
“Fish, on the other hand, are generally considered to be fairly quiet members of the animal kingdom.”
“But certain fish species can be surprisingly noisy. For example, male redfin midshipmanfish attract females with an audible vibrato of about 100 Hz and 130 dB.”
In a new study, Dr. Blitz and his colleagues looked into Danionella cerebruma small teleost fish with the smallest brain of any known vertebrate.
“This small fish can emit over 140dB of sound at a distance of 10-12mm, which is comparable to the noise of a plane taking off at a distance of 100m, which is highly unusual for such a fish. 'It's a small size,' Dr. Blitz said.
“We sought to understand how the fish manage this and what mechanisms are involved in this outcome.”
Using a combination of high-speed video, microcomputed tomography, gene expression analysis, and differential methods, the researchers discovered that: Danionella cerebrum Males have unique sound-producing equipment, including drumming cartilage, specialized ribs, and fatigue-resistant muscles.
“This device accelerates the drumming cartilage with a force of more than 2,000g and slams it against the swim bladder, producing rapid and loud pulses,” Dr. Blitz said.
“These pulses chain together to produce calls for bilateral alternating or unilateral muscle contractions.”
Due to its small size and lifelong light transmission, Danionella cerebrum It is a new model organism for biomedical research.
This species lives in the shallow, murky waters of Myanmar.
“It is likely that competition between males in this visually restricted environment contributed to the development of specialized mechanisms for acoustic communication,” Dr Blitz said.
The results of this study cast doubt on the conventional concept that the speed of skeletal movement in vertebrates is limited by muscle movement.
“Understanding unusual adaptations Danionella cerebrum “This extends our knowledge of animal locomotion and highlights the remarkable diversity of propulsion mechanisms in different species,” the authors said.
“This contributes to a broader understanding of evolutionary biology and biomechanics.”
“Sounds made by others are Danionella The species has not yet been studied in detail. It would be interesting to know how their sound production mechanisms differ and how those differences relate to evolutionary adaptations. ”
“Combined with its lifelong transparency, this genus Danionella This provides a unique opportunity to compare the neural mechanisms underlying sound production between different species. ”
of study Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Verity ANO Cook other. 2024. A superfast sound production mechanism in one of the smallest vertebrates. PNAS 121 (10): e2314017121; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2314017121
Source: www.sci.news
