» stress in seahorses

Sound equals stress for seahorses

From AnimalNews 8.4

Sounds that permeate aquarium environments affect the quality of life for seahorses. Consistent exposure to sounds that fall below 600 hertz (a measure of frequency) cause a stress response in seahorses, which can affect lifespan and welfare, says Paul Anderson, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Florida.

"Stress is not a good thing for animals to be dealing with,
especially on a chronic basis," he says.

Anderson's multidisciplinary research is among the first to assess stress in captive fish due to aquaculture noise and has the potential to improve the lives of fish in aquaria around the world.

With Morris Animal Foundation funding, Anderson discovered that many home aquariums reverberate with sound at volumes that affect a sea horse's ability to maintain a healthy body weight. Anderson, who gauged the hearing threshold of 11 seahorses, also charted changes in their white blood cell profiles as part of the stress response tied to noise.  Reproduction may also be affected, either as a result of stress or possibly because noise masks acoustic communication that plays a role in courtship behavior, Anderson says.

A biologist, Anderson learned the ins and outs of sound physics for his dissertation work.

"I wanted to understand what an aquarium environment sounded like for a fish," he explains. "People inadvertently provide a  cacophonous environment for fish, which provokes a chronic stress response."

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