Passive acoustic monitoring,development of disturbance calls and differentiation of disturbance and advertisement calls in the Argentine croaker Umbrina canosai (Sciaenidae)

Disturbance and advertisement calls of the Argentine croaker Umbrina canosai were recorded from coastal Uruguayan waters. Dissections indicate typical sciaenid extrinsic swimbladder muscles present exclusively in males. Disturbance calls were produced when captive U. canosai were startled, chased with a net or grabbed by the tail. Calls were unusual for sciaenids because each pulse consisted of multiple cycles. The number of cycles per pulse and dominant frequency did not change with U. canosai size, but pulse duration and interpulse interval increased. Advertisement calls were recorded from unseen choruses in the field and confirmed with captive individuals in a large tank. Advertisement calls were recorded throughout the known range of the species in Uruguay indicating a continuous belt of spawning populations. Tank recordings of the same individuals permitted explicit comparisons between the two calls. Advertisement call pulses averaged 2·4 more cycles (11·0–8·6) although pulses of both calls were basically similar as were durations and dominant frequencies. Pulse number, however, differed markedly, averaging 13·6 and 3·4 pulses for disturbance and advertisement calls respectively. Furthermore, disturbance calls were produced as a rapid series with an interpulse interval of 26–31 ms whereas advertisement call patterns were less stereotyped and ranged from <100 to 450 ms. Multicycle pulses distinguished U. canosai from other sympatric sciaenids.