BEIJING, Nov. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- A new study suggests that when a dolphin whistles, gulf toadfish shut up.

"Probably a lot of fish can do this," said lead researcher Luke Remage-Healey, a behavioral neuro-endocrinologist at University of California, Los Angeles.

Remage-Healey first wondered if gulf toadfish could hear hungry dolphins' calls two years ago while recording the mating calls of the male toadfish off the Gulf coast of Florida. The fish were hanging out above their nests and chatting up the girls.

"Then, they all stopped calling," Remage-Healey recalled. "My field assistant noticed dolphins foraging right over the toadfish site, and we heard we were recording dolphin sounds instead."

The gulf toadfish is a bottom-dwelling fish found off the coast of Florida and is a favorite dolphin dish. In fact, 80 percent of bottlenose dolphin diets contain sound-producing fish.

In an effort to prove their theory, the two researchers captured two toadfish, put each in its own cage and placed the cages on the seabed in the breeding patch.

Using underwater speakers, they played recordings of snapping shrimp sounds or the high-frequency whistles dolphins use to communicate and the low-frequency "pops" probably used to hone in on prey. The shrimp sounds mimicked a common background noise in the bay.

Results revealed the toadfish ignored the snapping shrimp sounds and dolphin whistles and continued on with their mating calls. But when the fish heard dolphin pops or combinations of pops and whistles, they dramatically curtailed their mating calls.

Prior research revealed that toadfish hear low-frequency sounds best, consistent with the drastic response to the recordings of low-frequency pops.

As confirmation, measurements of toadfish blood taken immediately after the dolphin sounds were played revealed that levels of the stress hormone cortisol shot up after they heard pops.

http://news.xinhuanet.com...289171.htm

well Pari....

Did you know that the same thing occurs
when you get close to the burrow of a cricket
sending out its chirpy mating call.....

I wonder why that is.... ???? maybe they think
theyre toadfish and that we humans are dolphins...

or maybe.....