Communication in Holocentridae

This study is part of our thematic dealing with the acoustic communication in Teleosts. It is realised by Marine Banse

As many other fish species, Holocentridae (squirrelfishes and soldierfishes) produce sounds to communicate with each other. Sounds are usually produced in different behavioral contexts (e.g. courtship, spawning, agonistic behavior, competitive feeding, and when disturbed). Composed of 91 known species, whose many live in sympatry, the interest of this study lies in the ability of the different species of this family to distinguish from each other. Several questions rise. Are sounds species-specific? How do the different species share the acoustic space? Did different populations develop dialects? In the same scheme, we aim to link the evolution of the sound-producing apparatus to the evolution of the signal. Therefore, we also investigate the phylogeny of the group and the morphology of the different genera using dissections, histology and 3D tomography. Finally, this project includes an “etho-acoustic” part, aiming to link sounds to the different observed behaviors. This integrative and multidisciplinary approach will for sure give some interesting results.