The shark has long been considered as silent hunters, but a new study suggests that small rigs can create clicking sounds on handling sharks (Mustelus Lenticulatus). Evolutionary biologist Caroline fearless discovered noise during accident Shark Hearing test. In the lab trial, the teenage rigs focus on “click … click” when he puts on restraint. The results published in the Royal Society Open Science represent “the first documented case of shark makeing sounds”. Nieder recall: “At first we did not know what it was, because the shark had no voice”
Casual discovery in laboratory
As StudyThe fearless team of the fearless team placed a underwater microphone in a tank to test the shark hearing. During routine handling, a researcher heard a clear “click … click” from the shark mouth. Rig sharks have wider, flat, tail -shaped teeth to crush crusticians, and the tremendous cracking of these teeth produces sound.
Nieder then followed with systematic tests on ten rig sharks. In frequent trials, each shark emitted clicks burst when it exploded about nine clicks in a 20-second handling episode. In particular, clicks were the most often in early tests and stopped extensively as they became accustomed to sharks. Because the clicks were the strongest during the initial capture, researchers estimated that it could be a voluntary stress or defensive response. Nieder has warned that this hypothesis requires formal testing under natural conditions.
Implications for shark biology and communication
If confirmed, these findings suggest stunning complexity in shark communication. Shark and their relatives (rays and skates) are deficient in gas -filled swimming bladder that mostly use bony fish to make sound. The sharks had been silent for a long time. Nevertheless, rig clicks indicated that sharks could use a alarm or sound for communication.
Nieder also found that the rigs listen only to low frequencies (below ~ 1,000 Hz), lower than the human range. “They are sensitive to electric fields, but if you were a shark I would have needed to talk to you very loudly than golden fish,” NoteResearchers say that further work needs to be seen whether rigs click as an alarm or social signal in the wild.